Danila Yurov scored his first goal of the season in the Minnesota Wild’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. But a bigger storyline may have been sitting in the press box of the KeyBank Center as Detroit Red Wings director of pro scouting Kris Draper was in attendance.
According to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, there were 22 scouts listed on the press box seating chart for Tuesday’s game but Draper was the most interesting as the Wild continue to pursue a trade involving Dylan Larkin.
On the surface, Yurov’s performance, which also included going 3-for-9 on face-offs, may be good news for a potential trade. But it also presents a problem as Yurov is performing on Minnesota’s top line that’s beginning to gel as they get further into this season.
Danila Yurov is starting to break through for the Wild
Wild fans know about the Larkin stalemate that has lasted all summer. Larkin is a six-time 30-goal scorer and netted a goal in his season debut against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. While he’s on the back end of top-line centers, he would still be an upgrade for the Wild who haven’t had one arguably since the franchise started playing in the 2000-01 season.
This persuaded Bill Guerin to exercise patience and wait out the Wings, who had ousted president of hockey operations Steve Yzerman, hired Shawn Horcoff as interim general manager and hired Draper to oversee pro scouting earlier this week per The Athletic’s Max Bultman. Having Draper at the rink feels like a key development, especially since Yurov has been a rumored centerpiece of an offer the Wild have made to acquire Larkin. But the 22-year-old has given both sides something to think about over the first three games.
Although it’s an incredibly small sample size, Yurov has shown improvement in the opening games of the year. In addition to a goal and an assist, Yurov has shown improvement in the faceoff circle, going 9-for-15 (60.0%) before struggling against the Sabres. He also has contributed on the defensive end of the ice and was on the Wild’s second power-play unit, which has scored three of Minnesota’s four goals with the man advantage to begin the year.
Perhaps the biggest development, however, has been the way he’s connected with his linemates, Kirill Kaprizov and Maxim Shabanov. Kaprizov has been himself to begin the year with three goals including two in Saturday’s win over the Boston Bruins. Shabanov has also looked more comfortable with each game, netting two points and scoring Minnesota’s other goal of the night to give them a 2-0 lead in the second period.
The Wild will have to decide between Dylan Larkin’s present and Danila Yurov’s future
While things aren’t as polished as they can be, the trio seems to be playing well and with more time, it feels like Yurov can give the Wild a similar impact to Larkin. Should that happen, the Wild will have a cheap, young asset on a team that already has its core pieces in place and can use that money (or perhaps some of their other assets) for if an even bigger name such as Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews becomes available.
The problem is that time may not be on the Wild’s side. General manager Bill Guerin has made it clear that the Wild’s time to win is now and while Yurov could become a solid player, Larkin already is the player they need to make that happen. It’s a similar choice Minnesota made when dealing Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren for Quinn Hughes last December and that choice helped them win their first playoff round in over a decade.
There’s also the Hughes factor in all of this. While many believed the star would have signed an extension by now, the two sides haven’t come to an agreement with no resolution imminent. Adding Larkin, who served as Hughes’s mentor thanks to their ties as University of Michigan alums, would be another intriguing selling point to get Hughes to stick around. But it also would come at the steep cost of Yurov, who seems to be making strides to begin the year.
If Yurov sticks around and continues to build chemistry with his linemates, the decision will only get more difficult as the Larkin sweepstakes intensify. But with the Wild’s championship dreams within reach, that conversation could swing toward the proven commodity, especially if Minnesota gets off to a fast start.
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