The Minnesota Wild keep coming up in the same sentence as Nikita Kucherov, and the logic is pretty straightforward: if they’re going to swing big, they need to think big.
That was the conversation on The Chris Johnston Show, where Julian McKenzie floated Minnesota as a possible landing spot for Kucherov because Kirill Kaprizov is already there and the Wild want to win. McKenzie also pointed to the Quinn Hughes situation, noting that if Hughes doesn’t want to sign long-term, Minnesota could be forced into a different kind of star hunt.
“I’m curious if Minnesota makes any sense for Nikita Kucherov. Off the fact that Kirill Kaprizov is there.
They’re a team that obviously wants to win. I’m not sure what assets they have, but I keep thinking about Quinn Hughes and the fact that he doesn’t want to sign long-term, or we don’t know if he does or not.
We don’t know what his decision is going to be at this point. But if you want to cut your losses…”
Chris Johnston pushed back on the idea that Hughes is still in limbo.
“We know, because no decision is a decision.”
McKenzie tried to keep the door open for Hughes, but Johnston wasn’t buying much wiggle room.
“We’ve been saying that he doesn’t know, CJ.”
“It’s November 2nd, and…”
“We’ve been saying he doesn’t know. We got to be respectful to the process, CJ.”
Johnston’s response was blunt: “That doesn’t mean his mind won’t be changed. But no decision is a decision.”
From there, McKenzie said that if he were Bill Guerin, he’d at least be thinking about how a possible Hughes departure could reshape the Wild’s plan.
“My point is, if I’m Bill Guerin, and I feel that Quinn Hughes isn’t going to stay long term, and he could at least get me closer to getting a superstar, and maybe he wants to sign long term. I don’t know how you make that trade work. That’s at least something I would think about in my war room.”
Johnston agreed Minnesota would be in the mix if Kucherov ever reached free agency, but he also made it clear the path there wouldn’t be easy. He noted that the NHL is starting to look a lot more like the NBA when it comes to player movement, with more top-end names being discussed as possible movers and the cap rising.
He pointed to the summer of 2028 as a future class that could include McDavid, Werenski and Matthews, and said the league is entering a stretch where teams are seeing stars flex their leverage more often.
For Minnesota, though, the immediate obstacle is cost. Johnston said the Wild have already had trouble putting together the kind of package needed for Dylan Larkin, and Kucherov would likely require even more.
“The Wild 100%. I mean, I don’t know if we could; it’s hard if they can’t come, put together a package to get Dylan Larkin, which so far they haven’t been able to do.
I don’t know how they, you know, the cost for Nikita Kucherov, even as a pending UFA, is going to be more significant. And so, I don’t know if they can make that trade.”
Still, if Kucherov ever got to the open market, Johnston said Minnesota would be ready.
“But certainly, if he gets to free agency, I would think they’re going to be one of the teams lined up the minute it opens with just a Brinks truck and maybe Kirill Kaprizov coming over as part of the pitch and all, all that. They’ll be all hands on deck if, if, if, if, if that, that does come to pass.”
Johnston also pointed out that the Wild have a lot of UFAs and a fairly clear cap sheet for next season, which could give them room to maneuver if the right opportunity appears. And if Hughes doesn’t end up staying put, he said Minnesota could be in position to chase another star quickly.
“The other part of it is the Wild have a ton of UFAs. If you look, like they have, they have a pretty clear cap sheet for next season.
Obviously, it could get full in a hurry if Quinn Hughes takes a $20 million deal and, and all those things. But you know, I think they have the ability if they’re, if they end up losing Quint Hughes to go out and trying to be, fined another star player in short order.”
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