As part of Chuck Fletcher's due diligence before the Martin Hanzal trade, the Wild general manager pulled Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk aside Sunday to ask about his former Arizona Coyotes teammate.
An hour later, Hanzal was a member of the Wild.
"It was funny to have that conversation, go out and practice, then 40 minutes later, the trade was made," Dubnyk said. "But to have a player of that [6-foot-6] size and strength with the skill and the shot that he has is an unbelievable combination.
"You see [Coyotes captain] Shane Doan's emotion after the trade, you know what kind of guy [Hanzal] is. It speaks for itself right there."
Wild coach Bruce Boudreau knows Hanzal well from Anaheim going up against the Coyotes so often in the Pacific Division.
"He can be physical, he's mean, he's got a deft little touch, he's really good on face-offs," said Boudreau, adding that with Mikko Koivu, "It does help to have two genuine shutdown guys. … I think that actually makes us as deep as any team in the league in that position."
Defenseman Jared Spurgeon says Hanzal is as tough as they come to defend.
"He's huge," Spurgeon said. "Once he gets the puck, it's tough to get it off him. He's just a tough guy to handle. Long reach, and in front of the net, he's great at tipping pucks."