The Minnesota Wild hit a huge home run last week when they acquired superstar defenceman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks.
Prior to the move, though, Wild GM Bill Guerin was actively scouring the NHL for a top-six forward, as he tried to add more offence to his roster.
At the time, sources suggested Guerin was looking to bring in a scoring winger.
As a result of acquiring Hughes, he included centre Marco Rossi and left wing Liam Ohgren (along with rookie defenceman Zeev Buyum and a 2026 first-round draft pick) and shortened his depth up front – a price Guerin was more than willing to pay.
Now, Guerin remains in the market for some help up front, and may focus on trying to acquire a centre, instead of help on the wings.
The Wild expressed interest in Canucks power forward Kiefer Sherwood before they landed Hughes and could circle back, though another move with Vancouver seems unlikely.
Minnesota has just over $3.7 million in current salary cap space, which will continue to accrue, and that gives Guerin financial flexibility to add a forward later this season – the NHL is currently in its annual holiday roster freeze, which lifts at 12:01am on Dec. 28.
It is possible the Wild try to move a roster player in a deal for a forward to give them more cap breathing space.