Minnesota Wild trade for Marcus Johansson
The Washington Capitals continued their commitment to selling before the dateline, moving Marcus Johansson to the Minnesota Wild for a third-round pick on Tuesday.
Kevin Weekes was the first to report the news in typical Kevin Weekes fashion.
**Breaking News** 🚨📰
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) February 28, 2023
I’m told the @Capitals are trading F Johansson to the Land of 10K Lakes- @mnwild for 3rd Rd Pick. Let’s gooooo !!@espn @NHL @NHLNetwork @TSNHockey @DKSportsbook #HockeyTwitter pic.twitter.com/APia2zeCDQ
Johansson has 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists) in 60 games for Washington this season.
Washington is technically in the playoff picture, but has been sliding out over the past couple weeks and with a historically loaded Eastern Conference, the Capitals have effectively waived the white flag and decided to load up on assets for the future.
Johnsson joins a Minnesota team that is currently in third place in the Central Division, but has a real chance to catch the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche for the divisional title.
Just four points separate the top four teams in the Central, and the fifth-place team in the Central, the Nashville Predators, have been actively selling, even within their own division.
It's a vote of confidence from Wild GM Bill Geurin that his team can compete in the wide-open Western Conference. Which, it should be noted, he made sure to keep wide open by using Minnesota's cap space to help broker other trades that sent players like Ryan O'Reilly to the Eastern Conference from St. Louis.
