The Minnesota Wild’s negotiations with Quinn Hughes are the top story in the State of Hockey at the moment. But an interesting subplot has been their pursuit of Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. Larkin, who asked for a trade in June, remains on the Red Wings roster with training camp set to begin next week and as Detroit spins its wheels over finding a new general manager, some Wild fans may ask if it’s really worth waiting it out with hopes to strike a deal.
The Larkin situation is an interesting debate, but it got a ringing endorsement from Hughes when he spoke to Sportsnet’s Eliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas during the NHL’s Player Media Tour in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
“Larks has played in five playoff games [and] he’s going into his 12th season. It’s like, that’s the ultimate team guy,” Hughes said during an episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast. “Like, seriously. Anyone would be lucky to have Larks. Larks is one of my favorite people out there. So, if he ultimately makes a decision where he’s moving on or he stays, I think the Wings would be lucky to have him and if he moves on, I would take him in two seconds. You watch him at the Olympics and…you know how much the guys love him, what a team guy he is, and then how he performs in big moments. Yeah, so that’s what I feel about Larks.”
As teammates on the United States Olympic team that won a gold medal during the Milano Cortina Olympics last February, Hughes’s opinion of Larkin isn’t surprising. But it may also be the evidence they need to remain patient until an opening to strike a deal presents itself.
Quinn Hughes’s connection with Dylan Larkin explains the Wild’s trade pursuit
Hughes and Larkin have a long history that started when Hughes was a freshman at the University of Michigan. While they did not play together as Larkin left the school in 2015, the two met at a fraternity party in 2017. Larkin took Hughes under his wing shortly after and reminded him to “pay it forward” as Hughes began his professional career in the 2018-19 season.
Since then the two have had stellar careers with Hughes winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in the 2023-24 season and Larkin is a three-time All-Star and six-time 30-goal scorer including a career-high 34 markers for Detroit last season.
With the two players sharing the ice during the Olympics, that bond has only grown and both players have been connected to the Wild as Hughes is working on an extension and Larkin “wants to be in Minnesota” according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo.
“He wants to be here. And so, that to me is what it comes down to,” Russo said during an appearance on KFXN on Sept. 7. “Unless [the Vegas Golden Knights] swoop in, we know [the Florida Panthers] can’t afford him, and they don’t have interest right now. So Minnesota might be the team unless he expands his [no-trade] list.”
The Wild could be ready for a final push to acquire Dylan Larkin
The connection between Larkin and Hughes becomes more interesting as the Wild approaches training camp. NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen noted that Hughes said the Wild have “nothing to show or prove to him” as he hammers out an extension, but completing a trade for Larkin may be another way to push those negotiations across the finish line.
The problem is, there are still a few obstacles to clear. The Red Wings still need a general manager and the search hit its own road block when top candidate Jeff Greenberg chose to remain in the same role with Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers this week.
Compensation is another issue as the Wild seemingly don’t have the “win now” assets the Red Wings have been looking for in a trade. Even if they can get Detroit’s next GM to agree on a package that could include 2023 first-round pick Charlie Stramel, Danila Yurov, and draft picks, Minnesota still needs to move salary to make the deal happen with $1.15 million in cap space according to Puckpedia.
Until those issues are resolved, Larkin will remain in Detroit. But the situation is getting more interesting as the Red Wings get ready for training camp. With Hughes banging the drum, it could motivate the Wild to make one final push to acquire Larkin before the start of this season and it could help Minnesota get its top trade target after a summer of waiting.
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