ST. PAUL — After signing a 3-year deal with the San Jose Sharks on the eve of the NHL Draft, Devin Setoguchi said he was "super excited to be able to stay in the organization."
Twenty-four hours later? Welcome to the Minnesota Wild, Devin Setoguchi.
He was traded along with highly regarded former first-round pick Charlie Coyle and a first-round pick in the 2011 draft for Wild defenseman Brent Burns and a second-round pick in 2012.
"You never know when these deals become available," said Sharks GM Doug Wilson. "We didn't sign Devin because of this deal. We signed Devin because we like him as a hockey player. But when you come to a draft, sometimes things become available."
"This came together very quickly. We gave up two very good players. Devin is a player … these are tough deals, because he's a great kid. He's home grown. But you have to give to get," said Wilson.
That he did. Essentially, it's three first round picks (Setoguchi and Coyle, along with the No. 28 pick overall) for Burns, a 26-year-old defenseman who had 46 points in 80 games last season.
It's a role the Sharks have needed to fill since the retirement of Rob Blake. But Wilson said Burns is more than just a puck-moving D-man. "He's a 230-pound guy who can skate. He competes and he's just entering his prime."
That he is. But he's also a player that Wild fans expected to go. I spoke with three of them earlier in the evening, before the trade. When it was made, I found them again to ask about the departure of Burns and the acquisition of Setoguchi.
It's a steep price for the Sharks. But Wilson believes they were dealing from a position of strength and that Burns is the kind of player you should pay a steep price to acquire.
"We have six or seven top six forwards," he said. "And this type of player doesn't come around that often."
UPDATE: Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher said the deal came together during the day before the draft.
"The opportunity to add four first-rounders, for lack of a better term, was too appealing. We have to gain ground on people. Drafting one first-rounder every year and waiting three years ... I'm getting a little impatient, too," he said.
Fletcher said he was "not actively looking to trade" Burns, but that he received a lot of calls on him in the last week.