Trade Talks Have MN Wild Offseason on Hold
Minnesota Wild president of hockey operations, Bill Guerin, made it incredibly clear at the start of the 2026 NHL offseason that he’s looking to wheel and deal this summer.
Whether he can find a dance partner remains to be seen. We know the Wild are very much in on Dylan Larkin trade talks. Do they have what it takes to get a deal done with Detroit?
Yes… but as of now, their unwillingness to include either Joel Eriksson Ek or Jonas Brodin have negotiations at a standstill, while the Red Wings search for more trade partners that Larkin might approve.
MN Wild offseason on hold while Dylan Larkin trade talks continue…
In fact, according to Michael Russo (The Athletic) — who was on KFAN Radio Monday with Paul Allen — Billy has so many trade irons in the fire right now that he doesn’t feel comfortable engaging in serious extension talks with Mats Zuccarello, Nick Foligno or any of other pending free agents interested in re-signing.
“The one thing that is clear to me… I do think that [Guerin has] kind of hit the brakes on some signings just because he’s got balls in the air, because he’s trying to make trades. We all know this free agent class is brutal, so there’s probably not a lot there that they can go out and do to really appreciably add scoring to the team or top six type boards…But I do think that Bill Guerin is having a lot of different types of trade conversations, but Dylan Larkin is clearly the big fish.”
Michael Russo – KFAN Radio
Related: MN Wild Need Help Getting Larkin Deal Over Finish Line
Russo believes that Larkin suddenly coming available slowed down the Minnesota Wild offseason. Until Larkin lands on another team, Guerin wants to make sure he is able to squeeze the 29-year-old center into his 2026-27 plans, should they land the Gold Medal-winning centerman.
In the meantime, the Billy continue to explore other avenues on the trade market that might improve the Minnesota Wild for next season, in case talks with Detroit don’t end in their favor.
Guerin could have Vincent Trocheck right now
Even those can only go so far, though. Russo told PA that the Wild could have Vincent Trocheck — who was incredibly elusive for Guerin at the trade deadline — with a single phone call. But even someone like Trocheck must wait on the Larkin talks to sort themselves out.
“Guerin isn’t looking to pull the trigger on Trocheck anytime soon, though. Because if they don’t win the Dylan Larkin sweepstakes, it’s likely the MN Wild keep their options open in case, say, a Brady Tkachuk were to come available.
Bill Guerin could probably, right now, today, trade for Vincent Trocheck. But you do that and it takes you out of the Dylan Larkin trade. So I actually think that Larkin being suddenly available probably slows things down for the Wild.
And the other thing is you want to be patient. There’s a chance that, at some point next season or even later this summer, that Brady Tkachuk tells Ottawa he’s not re-signing there, and obviously that’s somebody that would be interesting for the Wild.”
Michael Russo – KFAN Radio
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