Zach Bogosian joins Wild, which is fitting — he already has a house in Minnesota

NEW YORK — Zach Bogosian doesn't need to find a place to live in Minnesota because he has a residence in Minnetonka that's been his family's offseason home for the last seven years.

He doesn't have to learn everybody's name because he already knows almost half the roster from skating with them in the summer or because they're former teammates.

And as far as learning the team's style, Bogosian has watched the Wild more than he otherwise would with all his connections to the lineup.

So, settling in after a trade from Tampa Bay should be a piece of cake.

"It's honestly probably as smooth of a transition as you're going to get," said Bogosian, whose brother Aaron is a mental performance specialist who provided the Wild with character assessments for the draft earlier this year. "Minnesota feels like home. Obviously, we've spent so many summers there. Between the people I know in this room and the people I know in the community, it's going to be great."

Bogosian, 33, had just returned from a nine-day road trip with the Lightning and was picking up his kids from school on Wednesday — "I was walking out to the car holding my daughter's hand" — when he received a phone call that sent him back on an airplane.

The Wild acquired the veteran defenseman for a 2025 seventh-round draft pick after trading away Calen Addison earlier in the day, a swap that added more grit to the Wild blue line.

"We were giving up chances, and we needed some size," President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin said. "We needed some heaviness, and our power play is good with the guys that we can put out there."

Wearing No. 24, Bogosian immediately joined the Wild lineup, taking Addison's spot alongside rookie Daemon Hunt on Thursday vs. the Rangers and suiting up for his fifth organization in his 16th NHL season.

"He's just tough," said Marcus Foligno, who kept in touch with Bogosian after they previously played together for Buffalo. "He knows how to shut down plays in the defensive zone. He plays physical, can hit, can just be [energetic] and aggressive, and that's something that we're needing back there."

Although he was with Tampa Bay in 2020 when the team won the Stanley Cup and later re-signed with the Lightning after a season with Toronto, Bogosian suited up infrequently this season and felt "the writing was on the wall" with the situation becoming stale.

"Sometimes you need a fresh start," Pat Maroon said, a sage statement coming from another one of Bogosian's former teammates who is having an impressive Wild debut since leaving the Lightning. Maroon arrived in an offseason trade.

"Obviously he wasn't playing in Tampa," Maroon continued. "I don't know why, but I think Minnesota has upgraded here."

When he was in action, Bogosian felt "really good."

While he enjoyed his time with the Lightning, "you're looking for an opportunity to play," Bogosian said. "Minnesota came calling, and I was excited for that."