Wild shopping – After a Central Division finish that felt like a promise—and a first-round gap that was wiped out before the Wild ran into the Avalanche—the Minnesota organization is once again looking at its roster. Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings is reportedly on the
The Minnesota Wild didn’t just win a playoff series—they dug themselves out of an early hole.
In the opening round against the Dallas Stars, the Wild fell behind 2-1. Then they flipped the momentum and reeled off three straight wins to move on to the second round. The mood in the building had that familiar playoff belief to it. Minnesota had finished third in the Central Division. and the expectation was that the postseason wouldn’t be a short stop.
But the Central Division’s top team didn’t budge. The Colorado Avalanche swept aside their division rivals in five games, ending Minnesota’s run with a result that felt sharper than the number suggests.
Now, the questions shift from what happened on the ice to what needs to change for the next version of this team.
Minnesota GM Bill Guerin is reportedly looking to retool again. and the most attention in the rumor mill is focused on Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin. The path to a move like that. per The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith. likely runs through another veteran forward—specifically Yakov Trenin.
“Yakov Trenin is one player they’re shopping,” Russo and Smith wrote. Trenin is set to make $3.5 million for two more years. Nico Sturm has one year left at $2 million. In the same breath. the idea is that if one of those forwards moves. Minnesota would consider re-signing Nick Foligno at a reasonable price.
Trenin’s situation is easy to see as both practical and painful. He is coming off his second season with the Wild. and it was his best work since 2021-22 with the Nashville Predators. The Russian forward played in all 82 games—the first time he reached the full-season mark. His production and stability were there too: a +13 plus-minus and 23 points (six goals, 17 assists). For a contender, he has looked like a reliable third- or fourth-line attacker.
But Guerin’s job doesn’t revolve around who fits today. It revolves around who makes the team look built for the next two playoff seasons.
That’s why the Wild’s summer conversation keeps circling back to adding more star power. Franchise forward Kirill Kaprizov is entering the first season of a record-breaking eight-year, $136 million deal. During the 2025-26 season, Guerin traded for Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes. Together, Kaprizov and Hughes give Minnesota two of the NHL’s best players.
The issue, as the roster picture becomes clearer, is that those two can’t do it alone. Trading for Larkin would be the kind of move that changes the shape of a forward group and gives the Wild a third star and a difference-making center—the exact kind of missing piece Minnesota has been chasing.
Larkin, for Minnesota, wouldn’t just be another trade target. It would be a statement that the Central Division finish, the playoff recovery from the Dallas series, and the disappointment of the Avalanche’s five-game closing act aren’t destined to define the team’s ceiling.
What happens next will come down to the package Guerin can put together—and whether Detroit GM Steve Yzerman is willing to listen. If those sides can find common ground, Minnesota could bring the kind of centerpiece that makes a Stanley Cup run feel less like a hope and more like a plan.
Minnesota Wild Bill Guerin Dylan Larkin Yakov Trenin Nico Sturm Nick Foligno Kirill Kaprizov Quinn Hughes Dallas Stars Colorado Avalanche Detroit Red Wings Steve Yzerman NHL rumors