Wild Acquire Bonino From Predators for Kunin, Swap Picks

The Minnesota Wild have acquired Nick Bonino from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Luke Kunin.

The teams also swapped 2020 NHL Entry Draft selections, with the Wild acquiring the Predators’ 37th- and 70th-overall overall picks and the Predators acquiring the Wild’s 101st-overall pick.

With the 37th-overall pick, the Wild selected Marat Khusnutdinov, an undersized but hard-working and well-rounded Russian forward from SKA-1946 St. Petersburg.

Related: Marat Khusnutdinov: 2020 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

At publishing time, the 70th- and 101st-overall picks had not yet been selected.

Wild Add Experience

In Bonino, the Wild are getting a veteran of 11 NHL seasons and 626 career games.

The 33-year-old left handed centre has recorded 122 goals and 160 assists for 282 points between the Anaheim Ducks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, and Predators. A consistent worker with good two-way skills, he will likely be called upon to provide some leadership to a squad that elected last month not to re-sign their captain, Mikko Koivu.

Bonino is on the final year of a four-year contract that carries an average annual value of $4.1 million.

Predators Add Youth

In Kunin, the Predators are getting a promising and hardworking young forward whose best days are still ahead of him.

The 22-year-old right winger, selected by the Wild 15th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, set career highs across the board in 2019-20 with 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points.

Kunin just completed his entry-level contract and the Predators will need to sign the RFA to a new one.