Written by Gray | 06 August 2011

Today it was announced that DW has made yet another trade with the Minnesota Wild, this time a third round pick in 2013 for LF/C James Sheppard. Sheppard was a first round pick, 9th over all in 2006, but he hasn't quite lived up to expectations. He's also currently out recovering from knee surgery and not at all likely to be ready for camp. The main question is why take on a guy with a lackluster history, (3 seasons, 11 goals, 38 assists, and a dismal plus/minus), and an injured knee? DW clearly sees something in the Wild that none of the rest of us have. (Even the coaching staff). To be frank, I'm still not to sure what that is, but I do trust his hockey sense, and the man is  pretty solid negotiator when you get down to it, so I'm not going to worry.

While it's not clear yet what positives Sheppard could bring, his teammate Brent Burns was clearly very happy about the decision, tweeting the following:



The gamble isn't too risky; Sheppard only cost the team a third rounder, so, if he has something that DW thinks might be useful, he will have been quite the deal. If he turns out to continue to be a bust, he didn't cost much and the losses will be minimal. Pollak says Sheppard stands to make a salary in the low $700s if he makes the team, which is a pretty low cost for an a guy with questionable NHL abilities. If he doesn't make the team he costs nothing in terms of salary.

Overall, while I know very little about what Sheppard could provide when healthy, this is a fairly low risk acquisition.

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