The Minnesota Wild have been considered one of the front-runners to acquire Dylan Larkin in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings. But the road to finally filling the void of a top-line center has been filled with obstacles.
With Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman driving a hard bargain, some would say that an update from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press is a good thing as Larkin has not expanded his initial list of teams since requesting a trade “two-plus months” ago. But it’s also a double-edged sword as it shows the price the Wild would have to pay to get a deal done.
“In two-plus months since requesting a trade from the Red Wings, Dylan Larkin has not expanded his [no-trade list] from [the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights or the Wild,” St. James wrote in a post on her X account. “[But] no offers from those teams have intrigued [the Red Wings.] They want value-now players for a 1C with [a] very favorable contract.”
The Wild have a big choice to make in pursuing Dylan Larkin
The Wild still have some reasons to hope that they can trade for Larkin. Minnesota was on the initial list of teams Larkin was willing to waive his no-movement clause in order to facilitate a trade and adding more suitors to the list increased their odds to get outbid. If Larkin is still eyeing the Wild as a destination, it gives a chance that they can make a deal happen as long as the list doesn’t get expanded.
The problem here is that Yzerman could be asking for a lot in return. Larkin may want out, but he is currently under contract through the 2030-31 season with an annual average value of $8.7 million. That amount is a steal after Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson signed a five-year, $90 million offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers over the weekend and sent Larkin’s value through the roof in a potential trade.
In addition, Yzerman may be running out of time in Detroit as the Red Wings haven’t made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season. While the Wild have first round picks in each of the next three drafts and can offer top prospects including Charlie Stramel and Danila Yurov in a deal, they may not be appealing to Yzerman as he may not be around to reap the benefits if Detroit misses the playoffs next season.
If anything, it sheds some light on why Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported last week that the Red Wings “would have no problem” trading Larkin to the Wild if they offered Matt Boldy in a deal. While the Wild probably don’t want to trade Boldy, he’s a coveted asset as someone who is signed through the 2029-30 season at an AAV of $7 million per season.
While it has not been reported, Detroit could also be targeting a similar impact player at a reasonable price such as defenseman Brock Faber, who is signed at $8.5 million through the 2030-31 season or Joel Eriksson Ek, who has a $5.25 million AAV through the 2028-29 season.
Out of those three players, Eriksson Ek would be the likeliest to get thrown into a deal. But while Larkin would be an upgrade, it would only be a slight one and create another hole that Guerin would have to fill before the season. That hole gets even bigger if someone like Boldy or Faber were involved in the deal, meaning that trading for Larkin would do more harm than good.
With Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggesting that Guerin has made his best offer, the Wild’s best hope is that things turn ugly between now and the regular season where Yzerman has to trade Larkin. This could even bleed into the regular season, where the Wild could wait it out, but they run the risk of coming up empty handed or having another team swing in and up their offer to take Larkin out from underneath themselves.
In the end, the pursuit of Larkin has turned into a big choice for Guerin to make. While he's shown a tendency to shake up his core this offseason, he has to examine the risk of giving up one of his best players in return. If he decides it's too much, he'll have to find a new target as teams are setting into the offseason.
It's a drama that Wild fans will continue to stay tuned and it could lead to a stalemate as both teams try to get what they want in a potential trade.
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