A renewed trade connection between the Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators makes real sense in 2026, especially around a framework that sends Jesper Wallstedt to Ottawa and brings a center like Dylan Cozens to Minnesota.
Minnesota has shifted from Wallstedt is the goalie of the future to we’re listening if the price fills a major need. Recent reporting has confirmed that the Wild are willing to move the 22-year-old netminder, and some insiders have gone as far as saying a Wallstedt trade “feels inevitable” if the right center comes back.
Two realities drive that: Filip Gustavsson has stabilized the NHL crease now, and the organization is aggressively pushing its contention window after landing Quinn Hughes in a blockbuster deal. After sending Marco Rossi to Vancouver in the Hughes trade, center depth is the one glaring hole on a roster that otherwise looks built to compete in the West. That makes a high-end, controllable middle-six center the exact kind of player worth cashing in a blue-chip goalie prospect for.
No team has suffered from inconsistent goaltending like the Senators in recent years. Their underlying numbers have often been strong, but Ottawa’s playoff pushes have repeatedly been sunk by poor save percentages and short-term fixes in net. That has left a young core, already heavy on forwards and defensemen, without a true long-term answer in goal.
Analysts have singled out the Senators as one of the clearest fits if the Wild move Wallstedt, noting that Ottawa’s need for a young franchise goalie matches perfectly with Minnesota’s search for a young center. When an elite goaltending prospect becomes available, the cost is steep. Still, it’s also one of the only ways for a club like Ottawa to finally stop cycling through stop-gap options and align its window with the rest of the roster.
Dylan Cozens already fits the mold of what Minnesota is chasing: a big, mobile, two-way center who can play in the top-six, handle tough minutes, and still drive offense. The Buffalo Sabres drafted him seventh overall, and he broke out with a 31-goal, 68-point season in 2022-23. However, they traded him to Ottawa in a blockbuster 2025 deadline deal, where he immediately produced 16 points in 21 games to start his Senators tenure.
That combination of age, pedigree, and proven production makes him exactly the kind of “hockey trade” piece you target when you move a prospect as valuable as Wallstedt.
Cozens also fits Minnesota’s timeline. The Wild are trying to maximize the next few years around Kirill Kaprizov and their revamped blue line, and they need a long-term answer down the middle rather than another aging rental. A player like Cozens can grow with that core, slot behind or alongside their top offensive drivers, and finally give the organization the kind of center depth it has been chasing for years.
Several outlets have already pointed out that Ottawa and Minnesota look like a “match made in heaven” on paper: the Wild possess a coveted goalie prospect, and the Senators have a surplus of young centers. Ottawa’s group includes names like Dylan Cozens, Ridley Greig, and Shane Pinto, all of whom have been floated as logical pieces in a Wallstedt deal.
That kind of structural fit is rare. It’s not just two teams with needs, but two teams whose strengths line up almost perfectly with each other’s weaknesses. One proposal already suggested in national coverage has Minnesota receiving Cozens and a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for Wallstedt.
For the Wild, that means turning an asset they may not fully need, given Gustavsson’s presence and their desire to win now, into an impact center and an extra future piece. For Ottawa, it’s a painful price to pay, but one that could finally stabilize a serious position of need for both teams.
However, a few different things will have to line up for a trade like this to happen. First, Minnesota has to fully commit to this contention window and decide that Wallstedt’s highest value to the franchise is as a trade chip rather than as the future starter.
Second, Ottawa must accept that no incremental tweak to the goal will close the gap, and that moving a center like Cozens is the necessary cost of solving the problem once and for all. If both front offices get there, the path is clear: a one-for-one plus type of hockey trade that sends Jesper Wallstedt to the Senators and delivers Dylan Cozens, or a similar young center, to the Wild.
It would be a bold move for both teams. Still, it’s exactly the kind of mutually beneficial gamble that could see these two franchises become high-profile trade partners again.