Danila Yurov’s fast start has given the Wild something they didn’t have a few weeks ago: a trade chip with real heft. The former 2022 first-round pick has opened his sophomore season with four goals and five points in 10 games, building on a rookie year that produced 12 goals and 27 points in 73 games. At 22, he’s suddenly looking like more than a prospect to dream on - he’s looking like currency.
That’s what makes the Dylan Larkin conversation so tricky.
Yurov is eight years younger than Larkin and won’t turn 23 until December. Both centers bring two-way value, both can score, and Yurov’s trajectory is moving sharply upward.
His faceoff work, in particular, has taken a huge leap. After being statistically the worst center in the league on draws last season, he’s won 58% of his faceoffs so far this year, a dramatic early-season turnaround that matches the broader jump in his game.
The praise has already started to pile up. “Who’s 22?
The Russian kid. He’s really good.
Yurov or something like that. He looks like a real player to me, too,” said Edmonton Oilers coach Mike Babcock.
“I didn’t know who he was. … Then, watching their game against Columbus, I thought he was their fourth-best forward.”
Wild coach John Hynes has seen the same growth up close. “He’s going to be a top-two-line center,” Wild head coach John Hynes said.
He also pointed to the details behind the breakout. “The way that he thinks the game, sees the game.
Now we’re starting to see his skating, his confidence, his offensive instincts on top of his hockey smarts and acumen without the puck, which is excellent. He’s been excellent on the penalty kill.
So it’s nice to see him be able to continue to progress. And his faceoffs now, he’s over 50 percent in the faceoff circle.
“He’s been working with (player development coach Derek Stepan). He puts time and effort into it. … So it’s nice to see, particularly early in the season, to see him get on the scoresheet, get some confidence that way, because there are so many things that are trending in the right direction with him, and that’s certainly one of them.”
Still, Larkin is Larkin. He comes with five straight 30-goal seasons and the kind of speed that changes how defenses have to play. If the Wild are talking about a move that could push them into true Stanley Cup favorite territory, that’s the profile they’d be after.
There’s also the Hughes layer. Larkin has ties to Brock Faber, Matt Boldy, and especially Quinn Hughes through the 2026 Olympic team that won gold in Milan.
Hughes and Larkin both came out of Michigan and both grew up in the same area. They’re good friends, and adding Larkin could only help the Wild’s case as they try to keep Hughes beyond this season.
That’s where the timing matters most. Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Joel Eriksson Ek are in their primes.
Quinn Hughes is only around through the end of the season. Jesper Wallstedt is on a cheap deal.
Blake Coleman has one year left. Ryan Hartman has one year left.
The Foligno brothers are getting older, and so are Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin.
So the question is less about whether Yurov matters - he does - and more about what the Wild should prioritize with their current window. Larkin would help right now more than Yurov would.
Yurov may eventually reach Larkin’s level, but that’s still a projection. Larkin is a proven top-end center who could raise Minnesota to another level immediately and maybe help keep Hughes in the fold.
If the Wild can somehow land Larkin without touching Yurov, that’s obviously the best outcome. But if Detroit insists on the Russian center as part of the return, the answer gets a lot tougher. With the window open and the team chasing the chance in front of it, this might be the time to turn Yurov’s breakout into something bigger.
In Other News...
Wild Keep Getting Linked To A Trade Fans Will Obsess Over
The trade buzz around Dylan Larkin keeps growing, and Minnesota remains the team most tied to the situation. The 30-year-old Detroit center has requested a move, and the possibility of a deal has become a legitimate talking point around the league, with the Wild sitting right at the center of it because of his reported preference to land there.
Detroit, though, is not expected to let this go cheaply. The Red Wings are said to be looking for a premier return, and Larkins no-trade clause has helped complicate every layer of the discussion. For Minnesota, the intrigue is obvious: this is the kind of name that can alter a roster conversation in a hurry, even if the path to actually getting him remains tangled. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Fans Just Got A Painful Reminder Of That Marat Khusnutdinov Trade
Marat Khusnutdinov is already settling in with the Bruins, and Boston has moved quickly to make sure he stays a while. The forward, whom the Bruins picked up from the Wild at the 2025 trade deadline, has been extended on a three-year deal after carving out a role as a middle-six winger, a reminder that his transition to North America is starting to pay off in a real way for his new team.
For Minnesota, the update adds another layer to a deadline deal that already carried some long-term curiosity. Khusnutdinov was a second-round pick by the Wild in 2020 and had only arrived in North America midway through the 2023-24 season before getting moved, so there was always a sense that his next contract would say something about the value he was capable of reaching. Now that Boston has locked him in, Wild fans are left looking back at what went out the door and wondering how the trade will age from here. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Hot Start Comes With A Workload Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Wilds strong start in 2026-27 has been built around a small group carrying a big load, with Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes doing a lot of the heavy lifting up front and in transition. Injuries have narrowed the rotation enough that Minnesota has leaned hard on that core, and the result has been a fast start that also comes with an obvious cost in ice time and wear.
Jesper Wallstedt has been pulled into the same kind of responsibility in goal while Filip Gustavsson works his way back from hip surgery, and the concern in Minnesota is less about what the Wild look like now than what all this usage could mean later. The Central Division does not offer much margin for error, and if the current pace starts to catch up with the lineup, the Wild may find out how hard it is to keep banking points when a handful of players have been asked to do almost everything. [Read more 🡒]