Martin Hanzal trade shows Wild are thinking Stanley Cup

In 1988, then-Calgary Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher traded away a young prospect named Brett Hull to the St. Louis Blues to acquire the players he believed he needed to win the Stanley Cup.

Defenseman Rob Ramage and backup goalie Rick Wamsley did indeed help the Flames make it happen, one year later.

Twenty-nine years later, Fletcher’s son Chuck, the general manager of the Minnesota Wild, showed again he inherited his father’s trade deadline boldness when he gave up a first-round pick in 2017 and a second-round draft pick in 2018 to the Arizona Coyotes to land Martin Hanzal and Ryan White.

The key to the deal is Hanzal, a 6-6, 225-pound two-way center who should make the Wild more playoff ready. He is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

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This is a rental deal designed to give the Wild, whose 39-14-6 record is the best in the Western Conference, a better shot to win the Stanley Cup this season. It does exactly that, giving the Wild a center trio of Eric Staal, Mikko Koivu and Hanzal. Those players stack up well against any center trio in the Western Conference.

Hanzal is a load to handle, and his presence makes the Wild more challenging to play against. He is comfortable and effective matching up defensively against any center. He has scored 16 goals this season, and his down-low, grinding style in the offensive zone fits with how coach Bruce Boudreau has the Wild playing. Hanzal is also a great faceoff performer, evidenced by his winning over 56% of draws.

You can foresee Hanzal giving the Wild more bite if they face the grizzled Chicago Blackhawks in the playoffs. Boudreau has helped the Wild come together, but they haven’t yet proven they can conquer the Blackhawks. That can only occur in the postseason.

Many believe the Wild gave up too much for a third-line rental player. But Hanzal was perhaps hottest rental forward in the trade market, and his deal also prevents him from ending up with a Western Conference rival.

The surrendered first-rounder is also in a 2017 draft that is rated as being below average. Plus, that pick will be at the bottom of the round. The Wild also got back a fourth-round pick. They gave up minor leaguer Grayson Downing and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2019.

This is the kind of move that a team should make if it has the best record in its conference and is ranked No. 3 in the league in goals per game (3.31) and No. 2 in goals-against average (2.31). It’s the kind of final-piece-of-the-puzzle move that you make when you have Devan Dubnyk delivering Vezina Trophy-caliber goaltending.

It’s the kind of trade that Cliff Fletcher made more than once in his career.

This was the right move for the Wild. What we don’t know is whether it will yield the same results that Cliff got when he traded Hull.