Are Lauko and Trenin an Improvement Over the Deweys? – Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild reshuffled their bottom six this offseason, parting ways with fan favorites Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime at the trade deadline. To replace them, they traded for Jakub Lauko and signed Yakov Trenin from the Colorado Avalanche.

Trenin and Lauko are expected to play in the Wild's bottom six. While it's unclear how head coach John Hynes will use them, they will replace the Deweys.

Duhaime and Dewar were easy to cheer for with their infectious off-ice personalities and feisty hockey style. Is the Wilds’ new foreign duo an improvement?

From a production standpoint, Trenin is the only clear upgrade. Neither Duhaime nor Dewar have topped 19 points in their careers with the Wild. Trenin’s career high isn’t much better: 24 points in 77 games with the Nashville Predators in 2022-23.

However, Dewar is seen more as a specialist in defense than as a driver of offensive play.

Lauko is essentially a bigger version of Dewar. While Dewar is more of a center and Lauko a winger, they were effective in their roles. Lauko and Dewar played almost exclusively fourth-line roles. Dewar produced slightly more, but played in 17 more games than Lauko. The former Boston Bruins forward scored just two goals in 60 games, but he brought more physical pressure than Dewar. Lauko still has room for improvement; he has played fewer than 100 games in the NHL.

Trenin is an upgrade over Duhaime in almost every way except personality. Trenin is slightly bigger, plays a more physical brand of hockey and produces more than Duhaime.

Trenin is also a bit more disciplined than Duhaime. He is a similar player to Foligno and will probably play with him a lot. The analysis models are much nicer to Trenin than to Duhaime.

Trenin is also a better penalty killer than Duhaime. Trenin is known as a shutdown penalty killer. While Duhaime did a fine job with a man down in Minnesota, the Wild had one of the worst penalty killing units in the league last season. They have a new coach and penalty killing specialist this year.

The new duo is a bit more expensive. Duhaime and Dewar had a combined cap hit of $3.03 million. The Toronto Maple Leafs gave Dewar a one-year, $1.18 million contract and the Washington Capitals signed Duhaime to a two-year, $3.7 million contract.

Lauko and Trenin's combined cap hit is $4.287 million. Trenin, however, is worth $3.5 million, and Lauko has a $787,000 deal. The Wild have Trenin locked up for the next four years, after which he will be an unrestricted free agent. Lauko has only a one-year deal, but Minnesota will retain his rights as a restricted free agent.

The biggest reason for the move may be their intangibles. Lauko and Trenin are big wingers who like to throw hits. They are part of Bill Guerin's plan for the Wild to become a tougher team to play against. Trenin reiterated this message when talking about playing against the Wild.

When I played against them at the beginning of the season, when Marcus was fit (and) Duhaime and Maroon (were there), it was a completely different game compared to the last games of the season, Treninsaid. It mainly became a little softer, and that's why I can help with that.

The Wild lost Maroon to the Chicago Blackhawks, but Foligno is back to full health and has played a crucial role in the Wild's quest to revive that identity.

If you look at our team specifically, our nine to 12 forwards, we felt like we needed to have more identity: more speed, bigger, stronger, faster, guys that can play with an edge, guys that can turn the ice, guys that bring energy to your team with the way they play, Hynes saidThat's definitely something he brings.

While Duhaime provided that element, the Wild got a lot of value out of him at the trade deadline, sending him to Colorado for a third-round selection. Dewar also provided solid value in a trade, landing a fourth-round pick, especially if the Wild were going to let him go anyway.

The Wild moved on from two fan favorites to re-establish a hard-core identity, become a bigger team, and help fix the penalty kill. They wanted to become a stronger team to play against, and by trading Lauko and signing Trenin, the team was headed in the right direction. While Trenin costs more than either Duhaime or Dewar, the Wild are only spending $1.257 million more on the Lauko-Trenin duo than they are on the Duhaime-Dewar duo.

The Wild are tired of being an easy team to play against. Trenin and Lauko will give Minnesota’s bottom six a leg up in toughness and size, an upgrade over Duhaime and Dewar. While the Dewwys were fun characters off the ice, this will be a valuable prize for what the Wild hope to accomplish in the future.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats and data are available via HockeyDB, CagWages.com and Evolving Hockey.

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