TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 From the Las Vegas Sunhttps://lasvegassun.com/news/2019/jan/21/golden-knights-trade-defenseman-brad-hunt-to-minne/ Nothing really earth shattering here, but the Wild ARE trying to fill the void left by injured Mat Dumba who may or may not play again this season. Wild get sparingly used defenseman Brad Hunt and a 2019 6th round pick for their own 2019 5th round pick. Hunt isn't a game changer and he is on the small side at just 5'8 185, but he HAS shown the ability to produce at the AHL level, and while he hasn't shown that same ability at the NHL level, his numbers suggest that the more playtime he gets, the better overall his game can be. He wasn't going to get the playing time needed on Vegas' deep blue line, but with Minnesota scrambling around for some stability on their own blueline due to no Mat Dumba, he may see the time he needs to show that he is more than just a body to sit in the pressbox. Previous teams he played for either also had deep enough rosters so he had trouble cracking it (Nashville, St. Louis) or were such a mess that an "ok" defender and small bodied blue liner like Hunt simply were NOT going to make a difference (EDM), not to mention the complete mess that the Oilers were, and arguably still are, at the management of assets level. Again, not expecting Hunt to come anywhere near replacing what Dumba brought to the table, but I am interested to see if the 30 yr old journeyman AHL'er and part time NHL'er can raise his game just a bit more playing on a team that will give him the ice time and have enough structure on defense (well, usually), so that he can ply his more offensive oriented game more often.....I am thinking Jared Spurgeon Lite here. This move allows the Wild to send back 20 yr old Louis Belpedio back to the minors where he likely will be better served playing regular minutes on a winning Iowa team, rather than play lesser minutes or be a healthy scratch, on the big club. Interesting to note, as I had a look at Hunt's possession numbers that he seems to have improved his ability to handle and keep the puck, while turning it over much less than in season's past Also, as a side note, the Ottawa Senators have placed Justin Falk on waivers (no, no, not the Carolina guy...haha) and could possibly be a nice, inexpensive option for an extra defenseman for Minnesota as well, if they have the room for him. A guy coming off a concussion but apparently cleared to play, has some size, a bit of a mean streak, and can play for either the Iowa club or the big club as needed....and someone the Wild are familiar with as he played with the club some years ago, and if I remember right, actually made a decent bottom pairing with Nate Prosser as a sort of mini bash brothers type duo. Thoughts on Minnesota adding Brad Hunt for relatively nothing and him possibly contributing a bit for Minnesota? Maybe be one of those sneaky underrated guys no one expects much from, yet he might deliver in smaller, satisfying quantities? Or maybe re-acquiring 6th-7th defenseman caliber Justin Falk to serve as an extra freight train when needed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I have always rooted for Hunt, small in stature but seriously, he is a great puck mover who just needed a shot. Yeah, he is small and cannot play the bigger body lines so you need to watch his defensive zone faceoffs and play matchups with him more than a lot of guys but he can run a second power play as well as most anyone. Take a look at his 2016-17 season split between the Wolves in the AHL, the Predators and the Blues. 35 games, 35 points, 10 goals. Last year with Vegas 18 points in 45 games, This year between injuries and healthy scratches he has 7 points in only 13 games. lots of press box times both years because you have to protect him on the road when other teams have the last change but he has offense. Paired with the right stay at home partner he could be Krug esque giving you some offense from the back end. Lots of holes in his game but if you are getting nothing from your back end in terms of offense the cost, is small, so a good solid pickup. Not sure the Wild are the right team as they are soft to begin with but used right he is a contributor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllaZilla Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 They got a defenseman who can more or less play in the NHL for a draft pick who more than likely will not play in the NHL... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnarkill Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I'm a bit biased so of course I like the deal.. and we didn't give up a ton to get him. Here's a little article from the local paper about it: https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/sports/hockey/4560283-wild-acquire-former-bsu-star-brad-hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 55 minutes ago, Gnarkill said: I'm a bit biased so of course I like the deal.. and we didn't give up a ton to get him. Here's a little article from the local paper about it: https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/sports/hockey/4560283-wild-acquire-former-bsu-star-brad-hunt Thanks for that article link.... Errrr, let's just hope Brad Hunt fares better than fellow Beaver Matt Read at the NHL level... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnarkill Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 5 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: Thanks for that article link.... Errrr, let's just hope Brad Hunt fares better than fellow Beaver Matt Read at the NHL level... Agreed! and while I like that he's part of the organization I didn't really expect Read to come in and be much more than a Iowa player and possible injury call up depth from time to time. It's a shame Read couldn't get his game going better at the NHL level he's been one of my favorite BSU players over the years and had a knack for scoring timely goals here I actually wore a Matt Read BSU jersey for the Friday night Hockey Day Minnesota festivities! I wish the Wild could have been able to pry Zach Whitecloud away from Vegas instead of Hunt.. but for the price hopefully Hunt comes in and contributes a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 6 hours ago, IllaZilla said: They got a defenseman who can more or less play in the NHL for a draft pick who more than likely will not play in the NHL... I think this pretty much is the idea. Dumba left a hole in their lineup that NO ONE the Wild have will be filling anytime soon this season....and they are not likely going to find a near replacement on the market either without giving up ridiculous amounts of assets (if even THAT is possible for this team at this stage), and thus smaller deals and crossing fingers is the way to go right now.... all while not giving up much of anything. It's why I also threw in the Justin Falk waiver thing too. Not sure how Wild fans feel about the guy when he played for us some years back, but I was a bit of a fan of his...at least his physical style. Yes, I know his defensive game has holes in it too...but like I said, when paired with Nate Prosser, for some reason, they played together like MORE than the sum of their parts. But yea....small fixes is all the Wild can really hope to accomplish this season. It may be enough to get them to the playoffs.....but alas, maybe not much more than that...par the course for this group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbgarnett Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Also, I think the pick we Give is either ours or WSH's 5th as we own both so it will be the better of the Two. Anyways I like this deal as we basically gave up nothing besides swapping late round picks and in the end if he helps us at all that's great and if not then we at least didn't give much up. I have heard a lot of Vegas fan are upset as they felt he is worth a roster spot over some of there current D like Merril or Holden and they say he is one of the best guys to be around in the locker room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 1 hour ago, bbgarnett said: Also, I think the pick we Give is either ours or WSH's 5th as we own both so it will be the better of the Two. Anyways I like this deal as we basically gave up nothing besides swapping late round picks and in the end if he helps us at all that's great and if not then we at least didn't give much up. I have heard a lot of Vegas fan are upset as they felt he is worth a roster spot over some of there current D like Merril or Holden and they say he is one of the best guys to be around in the locker room. This I can believe. Particularly when it comes to Jon Merrill, who is a mediocre NHL'er at best. Nick Holden, however, I can see why Vegas is giving him ice and game time over Hunt....he has shown very good offensive ability to go along with size at the NHL level before...particularly with Colorado and the NY Rangers. Granted, Holden's game can be up n down, and he isn't particularly good defensively most of the time...but then, defensive deficiency can also be leveled at Brad Hunt. And in an NHL where large mobile defensemen are given greater latitude over smaller defensemen with the same skillset, it is easy to see why Holden was favored over Hunt. At any rate, if fans who followed the Knights closely tired of seeing Nick Holden be sometimes good, sometimes bad, maybe they were just ready to see someone else given a shot (which Hunt obviously wasn't). Will remain to be seen how much of a go the Minnesota Wild really give him...…...and what Brad Hunt can do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rottenrefs Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 If any new d-player is capable of playing half decent on defense along with being fairly confident moving or handling the puck, and / or being disciplined enough to not pinch in off the blue line too often then it's a win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonkkis Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 From what I've gathered, he's a lot like Nate Prosser: reliable 7th dman that doesn't raise a fuzz about being scratched and works hard when he plays. Sounds good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey-78 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 How is he an upgrade on Ryan Murphy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 good depth move nothing to lose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnarkill Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 He can play the PP pretty well and has a heck of a shot so I was happy to hear that BB will be giving him a chance at it according to Russo's tweets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icechipper Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Shooting is good and should be encouraged...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 To @Hockey-78 's question, Ryan Murphy and Brad Hunt actually ARE similar players in stature, play style, and NHL production to date. The main difference, I think, is Hunt is 30 to Murphy's 25, giving Hunt a bit more perspective on what it is like leading an attack at the pro level...and while that may not mean a whole lot, then consider this: Looking at possession numbers, it appears when Brad Hunt is on the ice, more shots are attempted and hit the net (mostly from him) as opposed to Murphy. I am not big on stats being the be all, end all (the guy STILL has to produce and hopefully make good decisions on the ice), but the numbers seem to indicate the Wild are taking a reasonable chance here giving Hunt a go, since he likely WILL shoot more, and perhaps finally given a bigger role, maybe his production increases (going by his numbers that show the more he plays, the better he seems to perform), AND his slightly older age gives him the ability to make better on ice decisions under pressure. All this may mean something or it may mean squat....I guess we will see. But as we all have noted, the Wild are in a low risk, decent reward area here with this minor trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnarkill Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 for those that haven't seen him play much I dug up a few links so you can get an idea of what kind of shot he has he's also not afraid to let it fly when he has a clear lane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6srj5NK63Tc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Dpk0YxG5E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOayYbo2aDQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bbqQOMbFEo let's hope he can bring some of that to the Wild PP.. we could really use it lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antti_Laxative Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Go Beavs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 He looked more than a little rusty against Colorado. In fact, I kept wondering when we'd see some speed and he was hesitant to shoot the puck. IMO, that's pretty tone deaf on his part, because that is EXACTLY why this team traded for him. Its the same thing with Quincey, when we acquired him to play on the right side and he refused to do so. We'll see if Hunt gets more assertive and moves his feet quicker against Dallas. But first impressions were pretty underwhelming beyond one ok shift on the power play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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