The Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild teamed up for a blockbuster deal Monday evening, in a trade that saw prized offensive possession Jason Zucker moved to Sidney Crosby’s side in Pittsburgh, while a package of young, talented players was the return for Minnesota.
The trade saw Zucker go east to the Penguins, while the Wild took Alex Galchenyuk, Calen Addison and a conditional 2020 first round draft selection. Minnesota managed to acquire a first round selection, a former top-three draft selection, as well as a highly-touted offensive defenceman in exchange for an aging winger who has one eclipsed 50 points.
Addison, 19, has spent the past four seasons producing mightily on the back-end for the Western Hockey League’s Lethbridge Hurricanes. His 41 goals and 206 points in 241 games have him producing at a 0.85 point-per-game rate. On pace to shatter his single-season goal record, the Brandon product already has 10 goals and 43 points in just 39 games played in 2019-20.
The mobile blueliner spent his bantam and midget years playing AAA with the Brandon Wheat Kings organization, where he put up 79 goals and 147 points in 73 regular season minor hockey games. The former second round draft pick of the Penguins also earned a gold medal at the 2020 World Junior Hockey Championship in Czech Republic this past January.
