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The NHL trade deadline is now less than 30 hours away, and to this point, Minnesota Wild president of hockey operations Bill Guerin has made a couple moves around the edges to help strengthen the roster for a deep playoff run this postseason.
However, we are yet to see Billy pull off a much-anticipated SECOND blockbuster move of the 2026 season. Since sending a boatload of Minnesota’s best young players/prospects to Vancouver in December, for superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes, there has been a lot of chatter surrounding the Wild, but little actual movement.
During the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Guerin spent lots of time with many of the league’s top executives, while they all watched a Team USA squad he built win its first men’s Gold Medal in 46 years.
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Upon Billy’s return to the states, Wild trade steam has only intensified, specifically in regards to 32-year-old center Vincent Trocheck, who played on Billy’s 2026 USA team and who the New York Rangers are shopping hard leading up to the deadline.
When we went to sleep on Wednesday night, Minnesota was still the leader in the trade deadline clubhouse to land Trocheck, but other teams were still very much in the mix, specifically the Detroit Red Wings.
While I still see a strong chance that Vincent Trocheck is wearing red and green in Vegas on Friday night, a source in the Big Apple tells me that Detroit is making a strong push to land the prolific faceoff-winner.
— Jess Myers (@JessRMyers) March 4, 2026
And as the morning began to unfolded Thursday, it started to feel like the Wild might be nearing an agreement with the Rangers.
Minnesota Wild nearing deal for Vincent Trocheck?
According to the New York beat writers at The Athletic (Vincent Mercogliano and Peter Baugh) Minnesota’s offer is the best Rangers GM Chris Drury has on the table, at least as of this morning, reporting that New York “might ultimately take [the deal]”, but they are waiting to see if a higher bid comes along before Friday’s deadline buzzer.
The Wild’s offer for Trocheck revolves around Michigan State prospect, Charlie Stramel, which was reported yesterday. Unlike Wednesday, however, there is no mention in The Athletic’s piece about Minnesota’s 2027 first round pick being included in the package.
Drury has signaled he’s willing to hold his assets, according to a league source. It’s a viable threat considering his most coveted players are under team control beyond this season, most notably center Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Braden Schneider. But there’s a feeling around the league he could be using that as a negotiating tactic.
The pressure is on to do something after Drury published a Jan. 16 letter declaring a retool…The belief here remains that Trocheck will be moved — he seems to think the same thing — with the Minnesota Wild the team to watch. Their GM, Bill Guerin, made it clear Tuesday’s acquisition of fourth-line center Michael McCarron doesn’t preclude him from pursuing more help down the middle.
The Wild are not on Trocheck’s 12-team no-trade list and have extended an offer, as colleagues Michael Russo and Joe Smith reported. The package is likely built around Michigan State center Charlie Stramel, who has been the buzz for weeks and was mentioned in my Jan. 28 column.
The excitement only intensified on Minnesota Wild Twitter, when our local The Athletic insider, Michael Russo, started tweeting out pompous smiley faces in reference to Trocheck’s status in the Rangers’ lineup tonight being a game-time decision.
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 5, 2026
But moments later, when Russo dropped his own Trocheck update on The Athletic’s MN Wild trade tracker, he did NOT double down on what his colleagues reported just hours earlier out in New York.
Russo: Nope, Trocheck to Wild steam is actually fading…
Instead, Michael slammed unexpectedly on the Vincent Trocheck breaks, writing that Minnesota’s pursuit of the Rangers’ Gold Medalist wasn’t heating up… but fading.
The Wild’s hopes of getting Vincent Trocheck are fading.
The price for the New York Rangers center appears to be too rich at this point. It may just be that they don’t have the assets to get it done… Minnesota continues its pursuit of a center, though…likely looking for a top-six addition.
Per Russo, the Minnesota Wild remain on the hunt for a top six centerman, but he doesn’t seem all that intrigued by the Wild’s interest in the high price of Robert Thomas (Blues) or interest in others like Nazem Kadri (Flames), Charlie Coyle (Jackers), Ryan O’Reilly (Predators).
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In fact, Michael writes that he won’t be surprised if Bill Guerin and the Wild end up standing pat and rolling into the stretch run with the team they’ve already got, especially if Drury isn’t going to bring his Trocheck price down.
Remember, the Wild may find it smarter to hang onto their remaining assets and go big-game hunting this offseason if potential difference makers hit the market.
I don’t know about you guys… but if I didn’t know any better, I’d say at least one of the Wild and/or Rangers are using media members as a negotiating tool this morning. Of course, I would NEVER accuse Mr. Russo of such things.
Thus, we’ll just have to wait and see how the Trocheck sweepstakes play out over the next 24+ hours, because these dueling reports out of the same NY Times sports media outlet is something that has my antennas up for sure…
Mentioned in this article: NHL Trade Deadline NHL Trade Rumors Vincent Trocheck
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