The Minnesota Wild’s pursuit of Dylan Larkin has turned into a waiting game, and Quinn Hughes may be the reason nothing has moved yet.
All summer, Minnesota has tried to work out a deal for the Detroit Red Wings center. There was at least some movement this week, with Red Wings assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting in attendance for Tuesday night’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres, but a trade still does not look close. That leaves the Wild staring at a familiar kind of front-office puzzle: how much do you give up now when another major decision may be hanging over the entire plan?
That other decision belongs to Hughes. He has been eligible for a new contract since July 1, and the Wild have been linked to an extension offer, but nothing has been finalized as the season begins. Hughes, 26, has said he is in “no rush” to sign, and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the situation remains unchanged.
“There have been multiple conversations between the sides, but until the player himself greenlights his agent, Pat Brisson, to take it further, it’s status quo,” LeBrun wrote in a notebook released on Wednesday. “...
My understanding of the situation is rather simple: He’s in no rush. This could take months before he decides his future.
It’s a tough situation for the all-in Wild…especially given how much they gave up for him in that blockbuster with the Vancouver Canucks last December. But all Minnesota can do is wait.
It’s a story that isn’t going away.”
That uncertainty is what makes the Larkin pursuit so tricky. Larkin publicly became a target in June, when his trade request surfaced and Minnesota immediately looked like a natural landing spot.
He listed the Wild, along with the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers, as teams he would waive his no-trade clause to join. Even with that, the Red Wings have not pushed a deal through.
Detroit’s situation has only added to the noise. Fans have boycotted the franchise, Simon Edvinsson remains in Sweden without a contract, and the team stripped Larkin of his captaincy before training camp. Then came Tuesday night’s debut against the Ottawa Senators, where Larkin scored a goal and fought to defend his teammates.
The Wild also got a small reminder of why this pursuit keeps circling back to Hughes. Larkin and Hughes were not teammates at Michigan, but they do share that Wolverine bond, and bringing Larkin to Minnesota would give Hughes another reason to stay when his current deal runs out after this season.
There is a hockey case for the move, too. Larkin would give the Wild the top-line center they need.
But the price would be real, and it gets harder to justify if Hughes does not stay. Minnesota would be giving up assets that matter now and later, especially if the move weakens the roster and leaves the team leaning even more heavily on its young players.
Danila Yurov, who has been mentioned as a possible centerpiece in a Larkin deal, added to the conversation by scoring in the Wild’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Sabres. Charlie Stramel is another name that matters in any package, and keeping players like that becomes even more important if Hughes walks away.
If Hughes signs, general manager Bill Guerin can move forward without the same level of hesitation. If he doesn’t, then the Wild have to decide whether Larkin is worth the cost at all.
That’s where the whole thing gets complicated. Larkin has five years left on his contract at $8.7 million per season, but that security loses some of its shine if Minnesota ends up without Hughes and without the depth to build around him.
For now, Hughes is the key. His decision may end up determining not just whether the Wild get Larkin, but whether they can afford to pay the price.
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Wild Suddenly Face A Quinn Hughes Problem They Cant Ignore
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Quinn Hughes only adds to the uncertainty. The Vancouver defenseman is entering the final season of his current contract and has not yet signed an extension, leaving the possibility of a prolonged decision-making process hanging over the picture. For a Wild team trying to stabilize its blue line, the timing is awkward, and the longer this drags on, the more the rest of the league will be watching the same unanswered question. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Wild, it was the kind of game that leaves a few questions hanging around after the final horn. Their offense did not get the sort of lift it usually expects from Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, and Buffalos improved structure helped turn the matchup into a tight one. The Sabres also showed enough on the power play and in their overall defensive details to suggest this was not just an early-season fluke, which makes Minnesotas side of the result worth revisiting as the schedule moves on. [Read more 🡒]