Wild trade forward Brandon Duhaime to Avalanche

TEMPE, ARIZ. – Brandon Duhaime is no longer with the Wild, but he could be in their next game.

The Wild traded Duhaime to the Avalanche for a 2026 third-round draft pick before playing at Colorado on Friday night to set up a potential reunion with the winger at Ball Arena, if that’s when he makes his Avalanche debut.

“That’s a guy that everyone really gravitated toward,” Wild alternate captain Marcus Foligno said Thursday. “Awesome guy. Work ethic on and off the ice, too. It’s tough to lose guys like that. They mean a lot to all the guys in the room, and Dew’s a great player. He’s a great role player, too.

“I think he’s an asset to any team that he’s going to be on.”

As beloved as Duhaime was by the Wild — his ribbing of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury about Fleury’s age and the ensuing pranks against Duhaime were a midseason highlight — his departure was inevitable.

Before the season, the Wild signed Foligno and fellow forwards Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman to contract extensions to solidify their core and move the roster closer to gridlock. Add in the fact that the Wild will still carry a nearly $15 million charge next season for the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts, and a new deal for Duhaime would have been too pricey for the Wild. Duhaime signed for one year at $1.1 million last July and is eligible for free agency this summer when the Wild can fill out their roster with younger players on team-friendly contracts.

“Lineup was getting full,” President of Hockey Operations/General Manager Bill Guerin said. “Where he’s headed money-wise, it was going to make it really tough.”

Still, Duhaime “was pretty down when he had to go,” Foligno said.

“We’re all sitting here and warming up and getting ready for practice, having laughs with a guy, and he finds out he’s getting traded,” Mason Shaw said. “It’s a tough time.”

A fourth-round pick by the Wild in 2016, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Duhaime cracked the roster out of training camp in 2021 and was a fast, tenacious forechecker who killed penalties and upped the team’s physicality.

He tallied a career-high 17 points as a rookie and posted a personal best nine goals last season. In 62 games this season, the 26-year-old had four goals and four assists while averaging 10 minutes, 40 seconds in ice time.

“Heart-and-soul type of guy,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “He plays the game hard, big blocked shots, willing to sacrifice his body in confrontations, plays a speed game.

“It’s disappointing to lose him because you’re losing not only a good player but a great guy and a great teammate.”

Adam Beckman took Duhaime’s spot in the lineup on Thursday night at Arizona to make his season debut after getting recalled from the minors. The Wild placed Marcus Johansson (lower body) on injured reserve.

“Playing in these meaningful games is exciting,” Beckman said. “It’s the kind of hockey you wanna be playing.”

While Duhaime was the first player dealt by the Wild this week, he might not be the last.

The trade deadline is 2 p.m. Friday, and the team is fielding interest on forwards Connor Dewar and Pat Maroon. As for some of the other players on expiring contracts, Zach Bogosian re-signed a two-year, $2.5 million extension and Fleury has said he can’t see himself asking to be traded.

Even if the Wild don’t subtract any more players, they will soon have a different look.

Marat Khusnutdinov is scheduled to arrive in Minnesota on Friday night after securing a work visa; the prized prospect signed a two-year contract last week.

But before returning home, the Wild will face off against an Avalanche squad that now has a familiar face in Duhaime on it.

“I’m sure it’s going to be weird for him,” Foligno said. “It’s probably going to be one of those games where, even if it wasn’t against us, I’m sure you go to a new team, your first game is probably a blur. You’re just trying to get to know everyone.

“That’s going to be different seeing him on the other side.”