Boston Bruins trade Jakub Lauko, pick 122 to Minnesota Wild for Vinni Lettieri, pick 110

The Minnesota Wild and Boston Bruins have completed some draft-weekend business together. The two teams agreed to a trade which sees forward Jakub Lauko and a 2024 fourth-round pick, 112th overall land in Minnesota, while Boston acquires forward Vinni Lettieri and a 2024 fourth-round pick, 122nd overall.

Lauko, 24, was a former 2018 third-round pick of the Bruins and appeared in 60 games last season, recording two goals and 10 points. He also managed to see some action in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, playing five postseason games, recording one goal. Lauko has one season left on his current contract, set to earn $787,500 in 2024-25. He’ll become a restricted free agent at season’s end.

The native of Prague, Czechia hasn’t necessarily developed as fast as the Bruins were hoping for and perhaps a change of scenery is exactly what the doctor ordered for Lauko, who should get a chance to crack the Wild’s lineup next season. Lauko loves to throw the body, landing 176 hits last season, good for second of all Boston’s forwards. His versatility and tenacity on the forecheck is likely something that appealed to Wild’s general manager Bill Guerin.

As for Lettieri, he’ll make his way back to the Bruins. Lettieri appeared in one game in Boston during the 2022-23 season and also put up impressive numbers at the AHL level for the Providence Bruins. The undrafted centre signed a two-year contract last summer with the Wild, and is set to earn $775,000 in his final year. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent after the 2024-25 season.

Lettieri appeared in 46 games for the Wild last season, posting five goals and nine points. He’s made stops in Boston, Anaheim and New York throughout his career and has recorded 27 points in 129 career NHL games.

As for the draft picks involved, the Bruins used the 110th selection on defenseman Elliott Groenewold. The 6-foot-2 left-handed shot blueliner recorded five goals and 16 points in 57 games for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL. Meanwhile the Wild used the 122th pick on 5-foot-10 defenseman Aron Kiviharju. The Danish defenseman recorded two points in seven games for HIFK Helsinki in the Finnish league last season.

In Kiviharju, the Wild select a polarizing prospect who was mentioned at one point of being a potential late first-round pick. Daily Faceoff’s prospect analyst Steven Ellis mentioned recently “if you asked me two years ago, which is a long time in draft terms, Celerbini wasn’t close to him. Like Kivihajru was just always far ahead of the curve, the issue is he’s listed at 5-10, he never really grew so a defenseman like that not growing isn’t ideal.”

“He has a ton of skill, not have the most impressive numbers at the U-18s this year, but he did put up some of the best numbers we had seen from an underage defender in 2022 and 2023. He has so much skill but missed a lot of time this year due to a knee injury, I think he played in a total of 20 games this year”, added Ellis. It’s obvious the Wild saw something they liked and are hopeful Kiviharju can be the steal of the draft.