The Minnesota Wild are likely to have a busy summer and that means a head-first dive into the trade market. With so many needs including a No. 1 center, help on the blue line and a scoring wing, the Wild will likely need a trade or two to get everything done and it could mean the end for a promising prospect like Danila Yurov.
Calling Yurov a prospect doesn’t seem right after he capped off a promising rookie season. But there is still plenty of upside as he hasn’t reached his full potential. That combination prompted The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith to ponder Yurov’s future in Minnesota and suggest he could be part of a trade package to lure another superstar to the Wild.
“There are precious few NHL-ready prospects the Wild can throw into a blockbuster now that [Marco] Rossi, [Zeev] Buium, [Liam] Ohgren and Marat Khusnutdinov are gone,” Russo reasoned in a notebook article released Tuesday morning. “The Wild haven’t found use for prospects Carson Lambos and David Spacek, so it’s not like they’d move the needle. Yurov and [Charlie] Stramel may. Yurov skates well, is solid defensively and will only get better offensively. He had a decent rookie year, and it seems it’s just a matter of time before he’s a terrific NHLer, which could be a shame, as he may not be long for this organization.”
Danila Yurov could be Wild’s top trade chip this summer
Looking at Yurov’s rookie season, there is room to grow. Appearing in 73 games last season, Yurov put up respectable numbers, scoring 12 times and recording 27 points. But he also had a minus-7 plus/minus rating and struggled on the dot with a 39.2% faceoff win rate. Set to turn 23 in December, there’s a good chance Yurov will figure it out, but there’s a greater chance it won’t happen in Minnesota.
The Wild dumped most of their prospect capital last December when they sent Rossi, Buium and Ohgren to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Quinn Hughes. More of that capital was exhausted at the trade deadline, leaving the Wild with no first round pick in this year’s draft and without a second-round pick in the next three drafts according to Puckpedia.
Of course, the Wild will say it was well spent acquiring a game-changing defenseman and players that helped aid their playoff run including Michael McCarron and Nick Foligno. But it also means the Wild may have to include some young talent already established in the NHL to get a deal across the finish line.
The Wild tried once in the middle of last season, offering Yurov and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the St. Louis Blues in a rejected trade for Robert Thomas. Wallstedt could also be a trade candidate as another young piece that has flashed upside early in his career. But Filip Gustavsson’s upcoming hip surgery could convince them to hang onto Wallstedt, which gives Yurov even more uncertainty about his future.
It’s more than possible the Wild trade Yurov and watch him realize his potential with another team. That’s especially true considering that team could move him back to his natural position of wing and eliminate the troubles he had with faceoffs. But, like in the case of the players the Wild sent to acquire Hughes, it could be more than worth it to get a player that helps them make an even deeper run into the playoffs.
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