The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith weigh in regarding the Minnesota Wild’s pursuit of Dylan Larkin from the Wild’s perspective:
The No. 1 center search was supposed to be the centerpiece of what’s turned into a pretty concerning offseason for the Wild. Their big additions up front were Blake Coleman and Russian winger Maxim Shabanov, whom they’re betting on as top-six options. They had to replace 150 combined points among the departures of Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson and Vladimir Tarasenko. The Wild basically swapped Jake Middleton for Olli Maatta on their third defensive pair.
All that would be well and good if Minnesota still landed a top-flight center such as Larkin, the type of star the Wild believe would strengthen their long-term pitch to Quinn Hughes. For now, those extension talks continue.
The Wild still believe they have one major thing working in their favor: Larkin’s desire to come to Minnesota hasn’t changed. That doesn’t mean Detroit has to trade him anytime soon. In fact, Wednesday’s news probably gives the organization every reason to see if a new front office can convince its captain to stay.
But the problem for now, from Minnesota’s perspective at least, is there are no real Plan B options out there up the middle. The Wild passed on the price for Trocheck, who was acquired by the division-rival Utah Mammoth for defenseman Sean Durzi, prospect Cole Beaudoin and a third-round pick in 2027. Utah also snagged Minnesota’s top free-agent target, Edina legend Anders Lee.
That’s why Wednesday’s news is so significant from the Wild’s perspective. They didn’t merely miss on centers this summer. They intentionally waited. They passed on opportunities because they believed there was still a realistic path to acquiring the player they wanted most. Whether that gamble ultimately pays off remains to be seen. But Yzerman’s resignation almost certainly means the Wild are going to have to wait even longer to find out.
Continued (paywall); so the Wild wait, as do the Red Wings, for a resolution to this situation.
