MN Wild Still in on Dylan Larkin… but How?

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Minnesota Wild trade target, Dylan Larkin - Detroit Red Wings
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There was steam rising all day Friday connecting the Minnesota Wild and their top offseason trade target, Detroit Red Wings centerman, Dylan Larkin.

Larkin — who holds a full no-trade clause in his contract — requested a trade earlier this offseason and included a short list of approved destinations, one of which was Minnesota.

The rumors started flying Friday morning when Central Division rival reporter Andy Strickland (St. Louis) suggested the Wild are the most-likely landing spot for Larkin, from what he’s hearing behind the scenes.

Hours later, local columnist LaVelle E. Neal (Star Tribune) put everyone on notice during an interview with KFAN when he said that the race is down to Vegas and Minnesota and that he’s expecting something to happen this weekend.

Dylan Larkin waiting game continues

While LaVelle may not be the local insider you expect to be scooping Minnesota Wild news, he was clearly onto something during his KFAN Radio interview yesterday.

Because shortly after his scoop, right before the first round of the NHL Draft started, ESPN NHL insider Emily Kaplan reported on SportsCenter that the Dylan Larkin sweepstakes are indeed down to the Golden Knights and MN Wild.

“We know that [Dylan Larkin] put in a trade request to his GM Steve Yzerman and Steve Yzerman wants to go on his own terms. So no timeline predicted here. However, Minnesota and Vegas would be the two teams I’d watch.

If Minnesota does pull off this deal, they’d have to get a third team involved, likely, because Detroit hasn’t liked any of the offers so far that Minnesota has provided.”

Emily Kaplan – ESPN

If you are looking at what Minnesota has to offer for Larkin, it remains difficult to see how they can build the type of package Steve Yzerman is hunting, given his hesitancy to make a deal so far.

Unwarranted MN Wild optimism…

Detroit’s GM has made no secret that Yurov and Stramel + first rounders in 2027 and 2028 is not a requisite offer. That’s why, even before Friday’s events, the Minnesota Wild were in need of a third team to make this trade work.

Still, there seems to be optimism around insider circles that the Wild are still in this fight, possibly even winning. It’s also worth noting how every reporter seems to know something about this mysterious third team Minnesota is trying to get involved.

The Wild are still very much in the Larkin sweepstakes, with Guerin, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman and Larkin’s agent, Pat Brisson, in constant communication. Larkin…was not moved on Friday’s busy first day of the draft, and it’s up in the air when — or if — Yzerman would move his disgruntled six-time 30-goal scorer.

It feels like, at this point, it’s going to take a third team to get involved for the Wild to get a Larkin deal done since they don’t have the trade assets/chips the Red Wings covet.

Michael Russo – The Athletic

How patient is Yzerman really?

And it sure seems notable that Vegas did not trade their newly acquired first round pick last night, in a deal for Larkin. It seemed like they were trying to do something, moving down multiple times as if they were trying to delay the pick. But in the end, at No. 29 overall, the Golden Knights selected (D) Juho Piiparinen.

We know Yzerman is willing to stay patient (or so he says), but he obviously isn’t a fan of whatever Vegas has to offer (top prospect Trevor Connelly + 1st Rd picks in 2028 (NYR) and 2029), even after the flurry of moves Friday night to get back into the first round.

While Yzerman continues to talk tough publicly about how he’ll wait as long as it takes to make a good deal, it’s become clear behind the scenes that he wants this deal done sooner than later, just like Billy.

Related: Bill Guerin Wins Most Deflating GM of the Year Award Ever

Meanwhile, Larkin is still a member of the Red Wings. If Detroit was interested in any trade package from Vegas, wouldn’t they have wanted last night’s first round pick included in the deal?

The Golden Knights may have more room to fit Larkin in their financial plans now, but it’s actually the Wild who have the upper draft asset hand into the future, owning five picks today, along with first round picks in both 2027 and 2028. The Golden Knights do not own a first round pick in 2027 currently.

Could Dylan Larkin be forcing his way to Minnesota?

All of this leads me to wonder if Dylan Larkin has actually narrowed his list to one team — the Minnesota Wild. Remember, using his no-trade clause as a hammer to dictate a final destination (like Brady Tkachuk did) is something Russo recklessly speculated could happen earlier this week.

Larkin was also open to expanding his list to include other teams, per The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. As we just learned with Tkachuk, though, the list itself only means so much. Until a player has waived to go to a team, he holds the cards on a deal being completed.

So if Larkin really wants to join forces with Olympic gold-medal teammates Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber, plus superstar Kirill Kaprizov, in Minnesota, he can be unyielding if he chooses.

Michael Russo – The Athletic

Let’s also talk about how Detroit’s lack of success finding additional trade destinations for Larkin has been completely swept under the rug this week.

We heard all those rumors about the Stars being among several teams trying to get in on Larkin trade talks over the past week. Yet, it’s still down to Vegas and Minnesota, who were two of three teams on his original list.

Quite honesty, all this has me wondering if the MN Wild have already found their third team to help facilitate this trade Because if Dylan Larkin was going elsewhere (including Sin City), it would already be a done deal. And it’s not.

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