Wild trade defenseman Calen Addison to San Jose, acquire Zach Bogosian from Tampa Bay

NEW YORK – The Wild are progressing, winning a couple of games in a row, but that didn't stop management from addressing an early eyesore.

In a shakeup to the defense, the team traded Calen Addison to San Jose on Wednesday and brought in veteran Zach Bogosian from Tampa Bay.

A Stanley Cup champion with the Lightning in 2020, Bogosian cost the Wild a seventh-round pick in the 2025 draft, while the Wild received minor-leaguer Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth-rounder for Addison.

Bogosian, 33, is expected to make his Wild debut on Thursday vs. the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

"We've been giving up way too many chances," Wild President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin said. "We need to shift our way of thinking a bit and protect our goaltenders. We have good goaltending, but goaltending doesn't matter if you just hang them out to dry.

"The last couple of games we've been a lot better at that, and I think Zach will bring some improvement in that area."

This switch had been on the Wild's radar for the past few weeks.

After kicking off the season 2-1, the Wild won only once in their next seven games, and their problem was unmistakable: they were giving up too many goals.

Twice they've been scored on seven times, their opponents have registered four or more in eight of their 12 games, and the 48 goals the Wild have been tagged for overall is still the second-most in the NHL even though they've rebounded from a four-game losing streak with back-to-back victories.

"The proof was kind of in the pudding," Guerin said.

Addison is gone after drawing mixed reviews during parts of four seasons with the Wild, the team initially acquiring him as the prized prospect in the Jason Zucker trade with Pittsburgh in 2020.

His strength was as a power play quarterback: last season, Addison scored 18 of his 29 points on the power play, and his 26 assists set a franchise record for rookies.

But he was benched on multiple occasions for his defensive play. He appeared in every game this season, but Guerin felt Addison was falling down the depth chart. Addison had no goals and five assists and was recently demoted from the top power play unit.

"It's not a knock on Calen," Guerin said. "It's just a change in direction."

Since they had other options for the power play, the Wild could focus on their defense and some of its deficiencies.

"Calen's a good player," Guerin continued. "But he's got 100 games in the league now, and we felt we know what he is for us and that's not to say that's the finished product. But what we need right now is something different."

Raska, whom the Wild received from San Jose, has mostly been in the minors the last two seasons and will report to Iowa in the American Hockey League.

At 6-foot-2 and 231 pounds, Bogosian makes the Wild bigger and stronger, but he also has the pedigree the team has prioritized.

He was on that Tampa Bay championship team alongside Pat Maroon, whom the Wild traded for in the offseason, and has 57 goals and 156 assists through 787 games with the Thrashers/Jets, Sabres (where he played with Marcus Foligno), Maple Leafs and Lightning after getting drafted third overall in 2008.

The Wild had liked Bogosian's style and even tried to acquire him in the past. Bogosian, who is in the final season of a three-year, $2.55 million contract, had a no-trade clause in his deal, but the Wild were included on the list of teams he would go to. His cap hit is $25,000 more than Addison's.

"He's hungry to play, and we need what he can bring to our lineup," said Guerin, who mentioned Bogosian's offseason home is in Minnesota. "He's a big guy. He still skates well. He brings heaviness. He brings some grit, and we need that. I think the experience that he brings, with all the other intangibles, he's a great teammate.

"People within our organization know him and speak really highly of him, so we're happy to have him."

All season long the Wild defense has been in flux, with captain Jared Spurgeon recovering from an upper-body injury suffered in the preseason and Alex Goligoski sidelined with a lower-body issue.

Guerin ruled out Spurgeon vs. the Rangers and doesn't consider him a possibility for Friday when the Wild finish their road trip at Buffalo, but Spurgeon should be ready to play "soon."

His return might be the most impactful boost to the back end, but the Wild are still trying to clean up their zone in the meantime.

"We need to be able to defend, and that's what Zach can bring to the table," Guerin said. "He's bigger. He's heavier, and I just think that's something that we need to improve on."