Boston Bruins: Could the Minnesota Wild be the perfect trade partners?

The Boston Bruins have a deal that they’d dearly like to rid themselves of; namely the $6 million contract of David Backes that has two years left to run. Could the Minnesota Wild be a perfect trade partner?

We saw the idea floated on Twitter that maybe David Backes would swap a Boston Bruins jersey for a Minnesota Wild one, if the idea was sold correctly. The thinking is that he was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and it’d be a homecoming of sorts. Whether it’s a reasonable suggestion or just Twitter talk is a reasonable question.

Reality of the situation is that at this point of his career and with limitations placed, by the player, on who he can be traded to; would he really want to leave the Boston Bruins and the chance at maybe having his name engraved on the Stanley Cup for a team that doesn’t seem likely to even make the play-offs next year?

Any deal here remains solely reliant upon the fact that David Backes is willing to forgo competing for the Cup at least another year and simply head home. Maybe it flies, maybe it doesn’t? Maybe we’re hoping the player hedges his bets that he can earn a veteran deal with a contender at 36 years-old after his current contract expires.

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For any deal to work, the Boston Bruins would be likely giving up both David Backes and some sort of prospect; whether you could convince the Minnesota Wild to take someone like Peter Cehlarik, who has shown potential in flashes but not hugely, you’d have to wonder.

This is, however, a team with recent experience trading with the Boston Bruins and it paying off for both sides. Charlie Coyle has fit right in with Boston, whilst Ryan Donato impressed upon arriving in Minnesota. Hopefully, the dealing between Paul Fenton and Don Sweeney previously could be a difference-maker in making something happen.

Either way, the scenario would essentially be David Backes and some prospect or draft pick headed across to Minnesota, whilst they’d also seek to rid some salary themselves; most likely trade flop, Victor Rask. Overall, it’d give the Boston Bruins a salary saving of $2 million for the next two years, not to mention a player 8 years younger.

If the two teams were able to make such a deal, it could prove a winner for Minnesota; maybe the hometown comforts see David Backes have a late resurgence. The Bruins would certainly hope that a new team brings Rask back to his best campaigns producing 40-plus points for the Carolina Hurricanes.

We can speculate on such transactions, perhaps even dream of them; whether it’d happen – maybe we are really dreaming here. It’s going to truly take something significant to get the Backes contract off the books.