Nino Noderreiter
Registered User
DOBBER: We should also talk about another defenceman in Brennan Menell. He was traded from Minnesota to Toronto for a conditional 7th, or else nothing. This one could hurt the Wild.
As a 21-year-old in the AHL in 2018-19, the 5'10 Menell led the Iowa Wild defecemen in production (44 points) by a mile (next-closest at 24). As a 21-year-old, he tied Jake Bean in points/game in the AHL. He followed that up by finishing the 2019-20 season with 47 points in 57 games, virtually an identical point pace to Bean, and they also had near-identical shot rates per game – 2.33 for Mennen and 2.41 for Bean. He then went to the KHL and blew the doors off as a 23-year-old, finishing second in scoring in the league among rearguards.
So, we have a guy who performed similarly to Jake Bean in the AHL, ran circles in the KHL, and is only one year older than Bean at age 24. Why, exactly, is Minnesota getting rid of him for nothing?
This has big potential for the Leafs. Maybe Menell flames out into nothing; we have seen lots of players light up the AHL and KHL but not be able to translate it to the NHL. All the same, this seems like a great bet by Toronto, as guys who produce well across a variety of leagues at a young age tend to keep up that trend in the NHL. Not all the time, but for a 7th-round pick, it's very much worth finding out. The Leafs also have a spot on the right side of their blue line that is open should Menell play his way there out of camp. He is worth a flier in deeper leagues and I would be adding him in dynasty leagues right now. He could be a year away from being the PP1 QB for Toronto.
Most Wild fans have no clue. Guerin ego tripped a valuable prospect out of town for no assets so he could sign other random career AHL defensemen to similar contracts.