Marat Khusnutdinov Might Be Coming Before End Of Season

The Minnesota Wild might be getting a fairly good prospect in the NHL before the end of the regular season.

In The Athletic's Michael Russo's latest mailbag, when asked a question about which Wild prospect would next make an impact, he gave some extra information about what the team might be thinking about one Marat Khusnutdinov.

"Danila Yurov has star potential, and I’m sensing the Wild may sign Marat Khusnutdinov after his season ends Feb. 25, burn the first year of his entry-level contract and start him right away in the NHL. He has 16 points in 38 games for KHL Sochi (three points in a game Sunday), can play wing and center and has a ton of pro experience already at 21, so it would make sense for the Wild to get a head start on seeing what they have in him heading into next season."

As Russo reports, the centerman is on a fairly bad KHL team in HC Sochi, so playoffs probably aren't happening and the regular season ending in less than a month means that the player could come over even before the NHL trade deadline hits. If they think he's ready for the big leagues, that's extremely exciting.

The only question is about who will be coming out of the lineup. But, as we mentioned the trade deadline isn't until a week after Khusnutdinov could be coming over and someone like Patrick Maroon could find himself on a different team by then.