The Minnesota Wild are on Dylan Larkin’s approved trade list, which is half the battle in this drawn-out trade drama with the Detroit Red Wings’ center, who requested a trade out of town in the offseason but still remains there as October comes to a close.
The other half of the battle is for the Wild to show their interest with an offer to Detroit that’s good enough to land Larkin.
Minnesota is hoping to be one of the best teams in the Western Conference, and they’re also hoping to convince Quinn Hughes to sign a contract extension, and so anything they can do to make their team better in the immediate term is something the Wild definitely aspire to.
Considering Larkin is still clearly a star at the center position, he’d be the perfect kind of outcome for Minnesota to maximize the goals of this season and the ones to come.
But given that a trade hasn’t happened yet, it’s clear that not everything is in alignment.
In a Friday report from The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, we learned more about what that might be.
Wild’s Dylan Larkin Trade Offer Revealed
In LeBrun’s new article, he revealed what the Wild are offering for Larkin.
“I think the offers have included multiple first-round picks as part of a package,” LeBrun writes. “It’s not nothing.”
It makes sense that the Wild would feel OK with offering future draft capital for Larkin. They’re in win-now mode, and so that fits the conceptual plan.
The tricky part is that Detroit apparently doesn’t want that kind of deal.
Why Red Wings Haven’t Accepted Wild Offer
LeBrun also includes a detail about why Detroit isn’t interested in what Minnesota is currently offering.
“The Wild remain very interested,” LeBrun writes. “They’ve made multiple offers. The issue for Detroit seems to be the lack of immediate NHL talent in those offers, which are more futures-based.”
The Red Wings don’t want to enter a total rebuild. They want NHL players back for Larkin.
The Wild aren’t ready to give up a bunch of NHL contributions just to get Larkin. That makes it feel more like a wash than a win-now team would want.
But that’s also why this is still in a holding pattern. Detroit wants present talent. Larkin’s list only includes contenders. Contenders would be hesitant to trade too much off of their NHL rosters.
Until someone blinks here and is willing to push toward a compromise, Larkin won’t be playing for anyone, in Minnesota, Detroit or otherwise.
Wild’s Trade Offer For Dylan Larkin Revealed — And Why It Isn’t Enough