It has been announced today that the Minnesota Wild are trading defenseman Calen Addison to the San Jose Sharks. Addison is currently on a 1-year contract valued at $825,000, which wasn’t signed until just before training camp. This delay has been speculated to possibly create some strife within the organization. In return, the Wild will receive a fifth-round pick in the 2026 draft. They will also receive right winger Adam Raska.
This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The Wild recently changed their top power-play unit to five forwards, demoting Addison to the second unit. Jared Spurgeon, who usually quarterbacks the second power-play unit, should be back from injury soon.
Addison was originally drafted in 2018 by current Wild GM Bill Guerin when Guerin worked for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was drafted during the second round at 53rd overall. He played in the WHL (Western Hockey League) with the Lethbridge Hurricanes from 2015 to 2020.
Addison was traded by the Penguins on February 10, 2020, along with Alex Galchnyuk and a conditional first-round pick in exchange for Jason Zucker. He played for the Iowa Wild in the AHL from 2020-2022 with 18 games in the NHL for the Minnesota Wild. He made his NHL debut on February 16, 2021. He earned an opening night roster spot out of training camp for the 2022-23 season.
An offensive-defenseman, Addison has been working on his defensive play and stayed the summer in Minnesota to show his dedication to improving. He’s known for quarterbacking the power play, leading to him putting up 29 points in 62 games during the 2022-23 season. He was benched for the other 20 games due to his perceived lack of defensive ability but was already showing improvement in the 12 games he’s played this season.
Currently, the Wild have two defensemen that they have recalled from Iowa. Both Dakota Mermis and Daemon Hunt have played better than expected, while Jared Spurgeon and Alex Goligoski have been out with injuries.
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