
When the Wild hired general manager Paul Fenton as Chuck Fletcher's replacement three months ago, there was an assumption that significant roster moves would follow this offseason.
While Fenton's initial news conference brought several assurances that the Wild just needed to make minor adjustments to its roster instead of overhauling it, it also brought these words from Fenton: "I'll look at small trades. I'll look at big trades. Whatever is going to improve this organization going forward to give us a chance to win the Stanley Cup, we're going to look."
For the last two months, though — starting with the late June draft and continuing through free agency — the narrative started to take shape in a different way. Fenton didn't swing any big moves at the draft, and the outside free agents brought in were more about depth than splash.
"If we go into the season like that with the acquisitions and the character-type signings we've made, then I'm OK with it," Fenton said after a flurry of those signings in early July, pledging at the time to keep looking at bigger moves.
After Matt Dumba and Jason Zucker re-signed in late July, Fenton said, "Right now, I'm very comfortable with the lineup we have."
But what Fenton hadn't offered until Wednesday was much of an explanation as to why he hadn't struck any major deals.
During a "Town Hall" from Xcel Energy Center that was also shown on Fox Sports North, Fenton was asked by FSN's Anthony LaPanta about the trade market and the expectations of fans going into the offseason.
After a somewhat convoluted analogy that included two separate card games (poker and war), Fenton got to the point: he hasn't made any trades because there haven't been any good deals to make.