The Minnesota Wild are still hunting for a swing-the-fences move this offseason, and the search has already reached beyond the obvious names.
Dylan Larkin remains the cleanest fit. He wants to play for the Wild, and the Wild clearly want him.
But Bill Guerin may be aiming even higher than that, with interest in Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils as part of a franchise-altering idea that would bring the Hughes brothers to St. Paul instead of Newark.
The conversation with Devils general manager Sunny Mehta was most likely extremely short, but it's interesting enough that Guerin is inquiring on top centers beyond just hoping the eventual Larkin trade comes very cheap.
For now, though, the offseason still feels like it comes down to Larkin or bust.
Minnesota has done some business already, but most of it has been the kind of roster shuffling that doesn’t change the ceiling much. The team has not even re-signed Quinn Hughes to the extension that he more than deserves, and the moves so far have felt more like minor adjustments than the kind of bold strike the Wild seem to need.
There’s also been plenty of turnover around the edges. The Wild traded with the Flames to bring in Blake Coleman, a solid middle-six winger, while sending Jake Middleton and some picks the other way. That deal adds a useful piece, but it also comes with a cost beyond the lineup card.
Losing Middleton and Mats Zuccarello is a hit to the Wild’s off-ice personality, too. And for a team that has already spent a lot of time living with the old core, that core has now taken them as far as it could go.
Still, there’s no shortage of emotion around the departures. It is okay to mourn the losses the Wild have had in free agency, especially Mats Zuccarello, even if there are not many memories of them winning important games.
In Other News...
Wild Had A Painful Reason For Letting Zuccarello Walk
Mats Zuccarellos departure from Minnesota came with more context than a simple free-agent loss. The veteran winger signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings, and the Wilds decision to let him walk appears tied to a broader offensive recalibration, one aimed at creating more balance and more speed throughout the lineup. For a team that has leaned heavily on its top talents, the move signals a desire to make opponents defend more than one obvious threat.
The Wild are trying to spread scoring chances around instead of letting one familiar partnership drive so much of the attack, and that is where Maxim Shabanov enters the picture as part of the next wave. There is also the possibility of more change up the middle, which only adds to the sense that Minnesota is still reshaping its identity after moving on from a player who had become a central piece of its offensive structure. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Have Zero Margin For Error With Their Top Offseason Priority
The offseason has already given Minnesota a few useful pieces to sort through, including the trade with Calgary that brought in Olli Maatta and Blake Coleman. Maatta adds a veteran presence and championship experience to a blue line that needed some reinforcement, while the decision to bring back Nick Foligno gives the Wild a familiar layer of depth and stability as they map out the months ahead.
Even with those moves, the front office knows the biggest work still sits on the to-do list. The preseason schedule is out and hockey is still a couple months away, but the real pressure point is making sure the rosters most important defensive piece is locked in before the summer starts to slip away. [Read more 🡒]
Calvin Pickard Signing Raises A Bigger Wild Goaltending Concern
The Wilds latest goaltending move is less about solving a long-term problem than keeping the position afloat while Filip Gustavsson is out. Calvin Pickard arrives with plenty of NHL and AHL mileage, and Minnesota is betting that its tighter defensive structure can help a veteran who has had stretches of competence even if his recent results have been uneven. For a team that has spent plenty of time trying to stabilize the crease, Pickard is a workable bridge, but not the kind of addition that quiets the bigger questions surrounding the depth chart.
Pickards fit will be judged as much by context as by raw numbers, because last season in Edmonton was rough and the Oilers team defense did him few favors. Minnesota is hoping for a cleaner environment and a steadier workload, which could make him look more like the dependable stopgap he has been at his best. The larger concern is what happens once Gustavsson is healthy again, since the Wild still have to sort out how this goalie picture looks beyond the short term. [Read more 🡒]