The Minnesota Wild are looking for a No. 1 center and Dylan Larkin feels like the perfect target. The Detroit Red Wings captain's request for a trade has sent shockwaves throughout the NHL and several teams will be falling over each other in a market that is short on elite players at his position.
While the match is easy to see, putting together a trade package between the Wild and Red Wings isn’t and got a lot more complicated after a report by The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun released on Wednesday evening.
In the report, LeBrun noted that Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman went back to Larkin’s agent, Pat Brisson and asked him to expand his original list of three teams that included the Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers. LeBrun also noted that Brisson accommodated and “all kinds of teams have called to see what’s what [with] many of them interested in getting involved.”
In another hurdle, LeBrun predicted that the Wild may need to find a third team to find the assets needed in a trade for Larkin, giving the picture perfect match a unique challenge to get across the finish line.
“In a potential scenario that might help thread the needle, a trade could involve a third team in a transaction to make the assets work for Detroit,” LeBrun explained. “That would especially apply to a team like the Wild, who, straight up, I don’t think have the parts to appease Detroit in a Larkin trade – or at least the parts that the Red Wings would want. Finding a way to get assets from a third team might be a viable scenario.”
Bill Guerin will have to get creative to bring Dylan Larkin to the Wild
There’s a lot to unpack here. As we mentioned earlier, the Wild want Larkin. But the bigger question is the Wild have the assets the Red Wings would want in a trade.
Jesper Wallstedt is the Wild’s best trade chip, but the Red Wings have a strong goaltender pipeline including Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine. Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel could also be thrown into a deal, but they represent middle six forwards a few years away from reaching their potential.
The Wild also do not have a first round pick and no second round picks in each of the next three drafts, limiting the amount of capital they could throw into a trade and it leaves them at a severe disadvantage to a team like the Dallas Stars, who LeBrun adds “have absolutely checked in” in case they can’t come to agreement on an extension with Jason Robertson.
This is where Wild GM Bill Guerin has his work cut out for him. If the Red Wings don’t want Wallstedt, he can find a team who does, but that team needs to have the right assets that can go to Detroit.
For example, the Ottawa Senators have been linked to Wallstedt but their first-round pick in the 2026 trade has been frozen at 32nd overall after a cancelled 2022 trade for Evgenii Dadonov.
The Montreal Canadiens could look to make a splash by acquiring Wallstedt and throwing in Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach or current Michigan center Michael Hage as key pieces in a deal.
The Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks could also both throw in assets that make a deal more appealing and the Wild could use established players like Jonas Brodin and Ryan Hartman to sweeten the pot and perhaps land their replacement in an absolute blockbuster.
This was likely going to be the outcome as Larkin has five years remaining on his contract at an annual average value of $8.7 million according to Puckpedia. Yzerman would also be foolish to trade Larkin for peanuts as he is running out of time after failing to lead Detroit to the playoffs after taking over in 2019.
Larkin does have full no-trade protection and he would have to approve a deal, which could play into the Wild’s favor if he is really locked in on going to Minnesota. But getting to that point will take some creativity and put the Wild into an all-out bidding war.
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