ST PAUL, Minn. — It's a good thing Wild forward Brandon Duhaime packed a big suitcase before embarking on a west coast road trip, as he may have to live out of it for a while.
Minnesota announced Thursday that the hard-charging forward is headed for the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 3rd-round pick in the 2026 draft. The timing is interesting, as the Wild face the Avalanche - a Stanley Cup favorite and long-time rival - on Friday following a tilt in Arizona tonight.
Duhaime has been with the Wild for three seasons, picking up 35 points in 193 career games. He had just four goals and a total of eight points in 61 contests so far in 2023-24.
Better known for his tenacious forechecking and physical style than scoring, the Coral Springs, FL native was to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and it was unlikely the Wild were going to bring him back. Duhaime was extremely popular in the locker room, a character who liked to stir things up and was frequently on the butt-end of good-natured jokes. He was known as Dewey 1, with buddy and frequent penalty-killing partner Connor Dewar dubbed Dewey 2.
“Great teammate, very coachable player, heart-and-soul type of guy,” Wild coach John Hynes told The Athletic. “He plays the game hard. Big blocked shots. Willing to sacrifice his body in confrontations. Plays a speed game. It’s disappointing to lose him because you’re losing not only a good player but you’re losing a great guy and great teammate. I wish him nothing but the best.”
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