CALGARY — Wild general manager Bill Guerin called his wife, Kara, at around 7 a.m. MT on Friday.
The team had arrived at its downtown hotel at 2 a.m., and Guerin was gearing up for what he thought would be an uneventful final few hours before the NHL trade deadline. The Wild had already acquired forwards Gustav Nyquist and Marcus Johansson earlier in the week, and things had been quiet.
“I don’t think we’re doing anything today,” Guerin said.
Kara wasn’t buying it.
“I’ve heard that before,” she replied.
As the hours ticked away ahead of the 1 p.m. trade deadline, though, it looked like it really might be a slow day for the Wild.
Then, in the final hour, it picked up in a hurry.
First, Guerin got a deal in place to send unproductive winger Jordan Greenway (who has two years at $3 million average annual value left on his contract) to the Sabres for a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 fifth, providing crucial cap flexibility for this summer. Then he secured Greenway’s replacement in Oskar Sundqvist, a Swedish center and former Stanley Cup champion with the Blues. And finally, in the minutes before the deadline passed, Guerin squeezed in a deal with the Ducks for veteran defenseman John Klingberg, who is expected to jump right into the lineup and onto the top…
