The Minnesota Wild are heading into Thursday night’s season opener at Nashville with a familiar problem still hanging over the roster: the top of the lineup doesn’t look finished.
All summer, Minnesota tried to pry Dylan Larkin away from the Detroit Red Wings. That pursuit never got off the ground, and now the Wild may have to keep scanning the market for another answer at center. One name that surfaced early as a possible fallback was Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews.
That idea looked a lot more plausible before Wednesday.
Toronto swung a blockbuster trade for Kirill Marchenko, landing the star winger from the Columbus Blue Jackets and giving Matthews another elite running mate. The move came after a busy offseason for general manager John Chayka, and it may have done more than boost the Maple Leafs’ lineup - it may have shut the door on Minnesota’s backup plan.
The Wild’s search for a true top-line center has been the summer storyline in St. Paul.
Their center depth was exposed when Joel Eriksson Ek got hurt in Game 6 of the first-round clincher against the Dallas Stars. Minnesota ended up trying to push Danila Yurov and Michael McCarron into bigger roles in the top six, but the Avalanche still won the series in five games.
Then came the brief hope with Larkin. His trade request became public in June, and the Wild were immediately linked as a possible landing spot.
But Detroit wanted current assets in return, and the reported package centered on Yurov and 2023 first-round pick Charlie Stramel didn’t move the Red Wings. Larkin remains in Detroit for the foreseeable future, and he reportedly expanded his no-trade clause.
That left Matthews as the next logical name to watch. His contract is more movable than Larkin’s, with a no-trade clause, a $13.25 million average annual value and an expiration after the 2027-28 season. There had been speculation he could force the issue by telling Toronto he wasn’t interested in re-signing, but the Maple Leafs answered with an aggressive offseason.
Toronto won the 2026 NHL Draft lottery and the right to select Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 pick. The Leafs also addressed shaky goaltending by signing Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency, picked up defenseman Darren Raddysh in a sign-and-trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and added depth with Jack Roslovic, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger and Brandon Duhaime.
Marchenko was the latest piece, and maybe the most important one for Toronto’s future outlook. The Athletic’s prediction model had the Leafs’ playoff chances rise from 44 percent to 52 percent after Monday’s trade, while FanDuel Sportsbook moved their Stanley Cup odds from +6000 to +3500 and Kalshi listed them at 3 percent. If Toronto performs well enough, Matthews may have every reason to stay.
That would leave Minnesota back at square one.
According to Puckpedia’s lineups, the Wild are currently projected to open with Yurov in the top spot and Eriksson Ek, Hartman and McCarron filling the next three lines. If Yurov doesn’t make a second-year jump, or if his path starts looking too much like Marco Rossi’s, the Wild will be back in the market for an upgrade.
For now, Guerin doesn’t appear to have the assets to land Larkin. The same could be true if Matthews ever becomes available. The difference is timing: if Matthews were on the table, Minnesota would at least have months to let some of its own pieces build value before making a run.
If that window ever opens, Guerin would be sprinting to the phone.
But Marchenko’s arrival in Toronto may have changed the equation before Minnesota could even get there. With a six-year, $75 million extension in hand after a 27-goal, 67-point season with Columbus, he gives the Maple Leafs another reason to believe - and another reason for Matthews to stay put.
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Bill Guerin Changed What The Wild Will Accept From Themselves
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That approach showed up in the biggest calls he made, including the buyouts of longtime fixtures Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, moves that sent a message as much as they altered the books. Since then, Guerin has kept leaning into players who fit the culture he wants and making trades with roster fit in mind, trying to build a team that is not only more competitive, but more accountable to itself. [Read more 🡒]