The Dylan Larkin chase still has Minnesota Wild fans stuck in the same familiar spot: waiting, hoping, and trying to read tea leaves that keep blowing back toward Detroit.
The latest word came from The Athletic’s Michael Russo, who appeared on “The Sheet” podcast with Jeff Marek and offered a small boost for the Wild’s pursuit. Russo said the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers are no longer in the mix, which leaves Minnesota in a better position than before. But the big obstacle hasn’t gone anywhere.
“[Quinn] knows that Dylan’s preference would be to come to Minnesota, Vegas or Florida. But Vegas [and] Florida right now don’t have interest in him.
But the Wild still do,” Russo said. “So we gotta see who the GM is and if the Wild can make some sort of contract.
“The problem there is the Wild’s assets is what they are. They’re not gonna magically [or] suddenly give up [Matt Boldy] in a Dylan Larkin trade. Unless they’re going to want futures that aren’t sure things, I don’t know how that deal is going to get done unless it’s a three-way trade.”
That’s the heart of it. Minnesota may have gained a little ground, but the trade still looks hard to finish.
Larkin asked for a trade back in June and put the Knights, Panthers and Wild on his no-trade list. The Wild looked like the preferred landing spot, but former Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman pushed back on Minnesota’s offer and asked for Boldy in return.
The Wild knew Boldy was the better piece in that deal, so they appeared content to wait. Then came another bit of movement last month, when Yzerman was reassigned as an adviser to owner Chris Ilitch. Even so, he is still handling Detroit’s day-to-day operations while the GM search continues, and that search does not appear close to wrapping up.
The Athletic’s Max Bultman addressed the situation in a mailbag on Wednesday and pointed out that Detroit is moving at its own pace.
“It’s certainly unusual for a team to not have a general manager this late into the offseason, and while it has been a slow start to the process, it’s not unprecedented for searches to take a while in terms of sheer time spent. …But the one big difference between this search and the ones that took place right when the season ended is that Detroit is the only team in the market right now.
The Red Wings aren’t racing other franchises to make sure their top candidates don’t get snatched up. They can focus on their own process.”
Russo also noted another complication for Minnesota: the prospect pool. The Wild don’t even know exactly what top prospects such as Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel will become at the NHL level, which makes it tougher to build a package that Detroit would want. A third team could help, but that kind of setup is easier imagined than executed.
So for now, the Wild seem to be sitting in a holding pattern as opening night gets closer. Bill Guerin has kept preaching patience, both at the start of free agency and again last week on SKOR North’s Judd’s Hockey Show. He also hinted Minnesota could turn its attention to another area of the roster if needed.
That matters because Guerin still has Quinn Hughes’s contract to manage, and any move there could require another addition after Minnesota lost 150 points from last year’s lineup.
The Larkin situation still doesn’t have a clean ending. But if there’s a sliver of clarity here, it’s this: he appears headed to start next season either in Minnesota or back in Detroit.
In Other News...
Quinn Hughes Just Gave The Wild A Massive Contract Dilemma
Quinn Hughes is headed into the final year of his contract, and that alone would have made him one of the biggest talking points around Minnesota this season. The Wild already paid a steep price to get him, parting with three young players and a first-round pick, which turned the deal into far more than a simple talent upgrade. It also means every move Hughes makes over the next year will be watched through the lens of whether this was a long-term swing or just the opening act.
For Minnesota, the stakes are obvious. If Hughes settles in and likes what he sees, the Wild could be looking at a major extension decision sooner rather than later, but the uncertainty is part of what makes the situation so delicate. There is already speculation that he may feel some obligation to reward the team for what it gave up to land him, and if that sense of debt becomes part of the conversation, it could shape everything about how this reaches the finish line. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Still Have One Intriguing Late Summer Forward Option
The Wild have already done plenty of work reshaping the roster this summer, but there still appears to be room for one more forward addition if they want a little more punch and depth down the lineup. Eeli Tolvanen has emerged as a name worth monitoring, especially for a Minnesota team that could use another affordable option who brings a mix of offense and physicality.
Tolvanens recent run with Seattle has shown he can chip in at both ends of the ice, and that makes him an interesting late-summer fit for a club still looking at value signings. A one-year deal would make sense for both sides, giving the Wild another useful body without tying up long-term cap space, while Tolvanen would get a chance to settle into a new role on a contender with something to prove. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Face One Huge Quinn Hughes Question As Talks Get Serious
Negotiations around Quinn Hughes have moved from the speculative stage into something far more real for Minnesota, and the shape of the conversation matters as much as the names involved. The Wild are trying to map out a contract for a player who would change the tone of their blue line, and the latest chatter points to a shorter-term arrangement rather than a long commitment, with the financial range already pushing into territory few teams can comfortably ignore.
For Minnesota, the challenge is not just landing Hughes, but deciding how far to go to make the fit work without boxing itself in later. There is serious talk around the table, which usually means the hard part is still ahead, and the eventual answer will tell a lot about how aggressively the Wild are willing to chase an immediate upgrade at the cost of future flexibility. [Read more 🡒]