Minnesota Wild acquire Gustav Nyquist from Columbus Blue Jackets

The Minnesota Wild have followed up the acquisition of Marcus Johansson by adding more depth to their forward ranks, landing Gustav Nyquist in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round pick.

Nyquist, 33, is currently on injured reserve with a shoulder injury that is likely to keep him out of action for, at the very least, the remainder of the regular season. Before going on IR, the newest Wild forward amassed 22 points in 48 games with Columbus this season. He's in the final season of a four-year, $22 million contract that carries a $5.5 million annual cap charge.

Gustav Nyquist, acquired by MIN, is a speedy playmaking veteran winger. #MNWild pic.twitter.com/3fhqVisEom

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) February 28, 2023

The hope in Minnesota is that Nyquist will recover in time for the playoffs, at which point the salary cap ceases to be a problem. The wrinkle is a report from Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli that indicated the NHL would "closely scrutinize" deals of this sort for potential salary cap circumvention.

Sources: #NHL sent memo to 32 GMs today advising that acquiring injured players at the deadline to stash them on cap until playoffs will be “closely scrutinized” for cap circumvention.

This might take Nyquist and Henrique out of play, unless they can come back before end of szn.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 28, 2023

This, less than a week after Shea Weber's contract was traded for the second time since he functionally retired due to injuries.

Perhaps relevant due to this morning's NHL memo regarding acquiring an LTIR player, the #MNWild have sufficient cap space for Nyquist to not be on LTIR.

Prior to trade they can fit $9.7M in annual cap hit.https://t.co/XPDvAqj7JO https://t.co/r3cHdZGdJY

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) February 28, 2023

It's going to be fascinating to follow this trade and its potential ramifications for the Wild. There's no denying that Nyquist brings scoring punch and versatility to the table – two qualities that are always in high demand. They can also take on his contract without placing him on injured reserve, which could mean that they're in the clear. Time will tell.