Minnesota Wild leader Bill Guerin spends a dull Day 1 of the NHL draft, but two Minnesotans are picked

Bill Guerin figured Friday night would be boring, and he was right.

The Wild didn’t trade into the first round of the NHL draft, idling as others remade their organizations with prospects and active players, but they will have a chance to get involved in the action Saturday: They have five picks to make, beginning with No. 52 in the second round.

“It stinks not having a pick, but it is what it is,” said Guerin, the Wild’s president of hockey operations. “I know what it is now: bedtime.”

A few teams swung trades to switch their spots, but the Wild weren’t close to moving into the first round, Guerin said.

As expected, Canadian defenseman Matthew Schaefer was drafted first overall by the New York Islanders.

Schaefer and nearly 100 other players were at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, while teams announced their selections virtually from their respective trade rooms; after the picks, the prospects video-chatted with the team that drafted them.

Center Michael Misa, the Canadian Hockey League’s leading scorer, was taken second by San Jose, and another center in Anton Frondell out of Sweden rounded out the top three after Chicago chose him.

Woodbury native and Wisconsin defenseman Logan Hensler had his name called 23rd by Ottawa, making him the second American and sixth defenseman to get picked in the first round.

Edina hockey and football standout Mason West went 29th to Chicago; West recently committed to play hockey at Michigan State, but he is also a quarterback returning to Edina High School for his senior season.

Although the Wild didn’t add to their prospect pool Friday, they have changed their roster.

They gave themselves more flexibility by trading forward Frederick Gaudreau to Seattle on Thursday for a draft pick. The Wild are nearly $18 million under the salary cap, which is rising to $95.5 million.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires after next season, but the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have agreed to a four-year extension in principle pending ratification — a new deal that reportedly will expand the regular season to 84 games from 82 while reducing the preseason.

“The game’s in a really good place,” Guerin said. “There’s no reason for any sort of stoppage in play. The business just seems to be just on such an upward trajectory that it’s good we’ll get something done.”

Ahead of free agency opening at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Wild brass has been gauging the trade market, but “all 32 teams want to get better,” and that has limited who’s actually attainable so “it’s tough to make” trades right now, Guerin said.

But two moves were made.

Montreal acquired defenseman Noah Dobson from the Islanders for a package that included two first-rounders, while former Wild forward Charlie Coyle went from Colorado to Columbus.

“I’m not too surprised,” Guerin said about the lack of trades including NHLers. “Everybody needs players. This just seems like a difficult year to make deals.”

In the meantime, the Wild have business at the draft.

After their second-round choice, they have selections in the fourth (102 and 121), fifth (141) and sixth (180) rounds; the first fourth-rounder is from the Kraken after the Wild traded Gaudreau to Seattle. This was the fourth time in franchise history the Wild didn’t make a pick in the first round and the first year they left emptyhanded since 2017.

Wild director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett planned to discuss with the team’s brain trust which players were still available at the conclusion of the first round.

The fewest picks the Wild have made in a draft is four, in 2008 and 2016.

“He’s excited for tomorrow,” Guerin said of Brackett. “He’s ready to go.”