The Minnesota Wild have spent their summer waiting on a potential trade for Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. The Wild would love to bring Larkin aboard as the solution to their need for a top-line center. But the Red Wings have more drama than a crazy ex-girlfriend, scoffing at the Wild’s trade offers and needing a new general manager after reassigning former GM and President of Hockey Operations Steve Yzerman.
With that in mind, a deal doesn’t appear to be in sight. But if Larkin isn’t coming to play on the top line, the Wild must figure out who will.
That question was asked in a survey by The Athletic that drew over 4,600 responses from fans. The first part of the survey’s results were released on Friday and had Danila Yurov with 41.1 percent of the vote on who should be the top-line center assuming the Wild do not add another center. But Wild beat writer Joe Smith noted that Minnesota could continue using Ryan Hartman in that role in an experiment that is well past its expiration date.
“The Wild love Yurov’s 200-foot game. Coach John Hynes said he has Joel Eriksson Ek qualities. He does a lot of little thing instinctively that teams beg young players to do,” Smith wrote. “...This will be a second big season for Yurov…but most likely [Hartman] will start the season centering the [Kirill] Kaprizov line.”
Ryan Hartman could be the Wild’s top line center again next season
The thought of Hartman being on the top line for another season will draw a collective groan from the line heathens. Hartman, who will turn 32 in September, is a solid player that scored 23 goals and recorded 43 points in 76 games last season and brings a level of toughness to the top line. He already has established chemistry with Kaprizov as well, which helped him score 34 goals and record 65 points during the 2021-22 season.
Hartman also is a strong presence in front of the net and allows Eriksson Ek to form a strong defensive line alongside Matt Boldy and an open winger spot. But his presence on the top spot has some drawbacks.
While Hartman had 34 goals a few years ago, it was a high-water mark for his game. He hasn’t hit the 30-goal mark for the Wild since and his 23 goals last season were the highest since that breakout campaign. It also highlights his struggles as a finisher where he shot 10.6 percent for his career and just 7.0 percent two seasons ago.
This also leads to his limitations defensively. As a player that’s more of a grinder, he can be exposed by elite top-line centers and is modest in the faceoff circle, matching his 45.3 percent career win rate last season.
In a lineup that has plenty of new faces, putting Hartman on the top line would be one less chemistry experiment that John Hynes has to worry about after losing 150 points from his starting lineup from last season. But it would also be going back to a formula that wasn’t good enough for the Wild to win a cup last season.
Ryan Hartman isn’t good enough to solve the Wild’s top-line center crisis
This is the No. 1 thing that has fans worried going into next season. The Wild were one of the best teams in the NHL last season, finishing with 104 points. But they were third in the Central Division behind the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.
Both of those division rivals have clear answers at the top of the lineup with Nathan MacKinnon and Wyatt Johnson leading the way. But the Wild have tried to MacGuyver that option, using Hartman on the top line when he’s better suited for a third-line role.
This became even more apparent when the Wild got to the playoffs last year when Eriksson Ek’s injury suffered in the series against the Stars threw the depth chart into chaos and the Avalanche took advantage of it all series long to send Minnesota to the golf course in five games.
It explains why fans are pressing for the Wild to make a deal for Larkin, but not optimistic it will happen with 68 percent of fans believing they won’t be able to pull off a trade according to the survey. Yurov is an appealing Plan B with upside, but if Minnesota really believed in his potential, they may not be dangling him in a package to acquire Larkin or any other top-line center.
While there is still roughly six weeks until the Wild open next season, Hartman feels like he has a heavy advantage and unless the Red Wings get their act together, he will likely be the top-line center going into the year.
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