Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin loves to make a deal. The NHL’s reigning Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year won the award in part due to his blockbuster trade for Quinn Hughes last December and he’s trying to reel in another big fish with the chance to acquire Dylan Larkin from the Detroit Red Wings.
But according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, the Wild may find trouble trading for Larkin or anyone on their radar after dropping his latest rankings of the top 100 drafted prospects in the NHL.
The Wild had just one representative in Wheeler’s latest rankings as 2023 first-round pick Charlie Stramel ranked 94th. While Stramel has been floated out in several rumors, he represents a specific problem for Guerin as he is trying to improve his roster without the prospects needed to get a deal across the finish line.
The Wild’s prospect cabinet is almost bare as they look to make another blockbuster trade
Part of the Wild’s lack of prospects is the cost of doing business. The Wild were stocked with young talent one year ago, but a lot of it was sent to the Vancouver Canucks as Liam Ohgren and Zeev Buium were paired with Marco Rossi and the Wild’s 2026 first-round pick to make the Hughes trade happen.
No logical Wild fan is going to complain about what it took to bring Hughes to Minnesota – even as he gets ready to sign a contract extension that could reportedly flirt with an annual average value of $17 million in the coming months. But it does bring up a question about the team’s future, more specifically how they can improve going into next year.
The Wild need a top line center, but Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman hasn’t been interested in Stramel or anything else the Wild have offered for Larkin so far. Even a goaltender like Jesper Wallstedt, who graduated from prospect status last season, doesn’t interest the Red Wings going forward and Guerin could find a similar issue as he goes around the league.
Jack Hughes is an impact talent that could keep brother Quinn in Minnesota for the long haul. But Stramel and a bunch of first-round picks may not be enough to convince the New Jersey Devils to make a deal. Even ESPN analyst Erik Johnson’s prediction that Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews will wear a Wild sweater in the next few years considering Guerin would have to MacGuyver a trade that satisfies either of their current teams.
This could have Guerin digging deep to make a deal, but that also has consequences. The Wild do not have second-round picks in each of the next three drafts per Puckpedia. Even if they wanted to deal current players, some of that would result in a lateral move like trading Joel Eriksson Ek in a package for Larkin.
With Minnesota also having several bottom six players signed to massive contracts, it further complicates what the Wild can send in a trade with few resources to restock the cabinet. While that presents an opportunity for players currently in the organization to raise their stock in the AHL, it’s also not a given they’ll succeed, leaving the Wild in a tough situation.
Perhaps Guerin has something up his sleeve to circumvent their lack of young talent. They could also be sitting on something else as Wallstedt and Yurov have the potential to be centerpieces of a potential trade. Either way, Guerin is running out of ammunition and it could make adding to the current team a tall task as the Wild enter the 2026-27 season.
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