Ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft and free agency frenzy that begins next week, the Minnesota Wild have made some trades to begin assembling their entire team for the 2024-25 season.
The Wild have traded forward Adam Beckman to the New Jersey Devils for winger Graham Clark in a one-for-one exchange, according to a team announcement on Friday morning.
Parting ways with Beckman feels like a big move for the Wild. The 2019 third-round draft pick was on the verge of a full-time NHL role, but bounced back and forth between Iowa and St. Paul. We've rooted for him ever since he scored over 100 points in the WHL, but he's since played professional hockey.
The 23-year-old Beckman became a restricted free agent this summer and was needed to sign a new contract, but instead was traded for a fellow RFA and player of the exact same age.
In exchange for Beckman, the Wild would be acquiring a player who was likely in the same position as Beckman within the Devils organization, but who actually performed at a higher level than Beckman.
Clark, a third-round draft pick in 2019, is smaller than Beckman at 6-foot-4 and 174 pounds. But despite his smaller size, Clark recorded 25 goals and 49 points (about 0.09 more points per game than Beckman) in the AHL last season with the Utica Comets and is on track to record 25 goals and 58 points in 2022-23.
Clarke doesn't have as much NHL experience as Beckman, and he only had three games without a goal in the NHL last season, but the difference is so small it shouldn't be an issue.
One thing to note about Clark is that while he played all of his junior years in Ontario and his family is Canadian (like his older brother, Brandt, a top prospect with the Los Angeles Kings), Graham was born in Waconia, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, so while he's not from here, he's from here in some ways.
This swap simply gives the two 23-year-old wingers a new home and a new opportunity with another team. They may not be much more than a signing, but they are at least worth another chance.
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