There are 17 games left in the Minnesota Wild’s season, and now that we’re past the trade deadline, what we’re seeing is what we’re getting. Fortunately, that’s a pretty damn good team. In the three games since the deadline, the Wild dispatched the Vegas Golden Knights with relative ease, played the Colorado Avalanche to a virtual tie, and shut out a Utah Mammoth squad that previously dominated Minnesota.

Quinn Hughes is playing at an MVP level. Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy are both making runs at 50/50 seasons. The team is racking up wins to the tune of a 114-point 82-game pace since the Hughes trade. The defense is solid, and Minnesota’s deadline moves made their forward group meaner. Their goaltending tandem is unmatched in the NHL.

There’s just that one hole at the top of the lineup. The Wild notably couldn’t bring in a center to pair with Kaprizov. Now, Vincent Trocheck, or even a formerly bona fide top-line guy like Ryan O’Reilly, wouldn’t fit the lofty standards of True No. 1 Center. But they’d have been credible center depth with a proven track record of playing with high-end NHL talent.

Right now, the No. 1 Center gig falls to Ryan Hartman. In fairness, it’s worked better on the ice than it does on paper. Hartman’s lightning-in-a-bottle 34-goal season is four years in the rearview mirror, but in 300 5-on-5 minutes with those two and Mats Zuccarello on a line, they are scoring 56.5% of the goals (13 for, 10 against) while controlling 56.6% of the expected goal share.

But is that going to work in the playoffs?

When a franchise loses nine consecutive postseason series, the playoffs become all that matters. Fair or not, the Wild are going to be judged by whether they can vanquish the Dallas Stars in the first round. Fair or not, it has to be noted that they did not do this in 2023 with Hartman centering Kaprizov. Hartman also scored his first goal in 15 games last night, despite his top-line duties with the NHL’s sixth-best scorer.

Hartman makes a decent placeholder in the regular season, which Minnesota needed after trading Marco Rossi away in the Hughes deal. But the playoffs are about upside. The Wild shouldn’t want someone just to tread water against Roope Hintz or Wyatt Johnston. They should want someone who can go toe-to-toe with them.

Danila Yurov is more likely to be that someone.

It’s a tall task for a rookie with just 24 points this season, but Yurov has quietly done great work as his role has increased. Working mostly on the third line, Yurov is now tied with Joel Eriksson Ek for fifth in 5-on-5 goals (nine), and tied with Mats Zuccarello for fourth among forwards with 22 5-on-5 points. He does all that while playing rock-solid defense.

And if we want to talk about goals from last night, Yurov put MacKenzie Weegar on a poster with a combination of strength, edgework, and supreme puck control under duress. 

Like, seriously, look at it again.

When we’re talking about flashes of being special on top of an NHL-ready two-way game, it’s time to start seeing what he can do in a top-line role. John Hynes has 17 games to do that before the playoffs start. The question is, will he?

Hynes should. There is little downside to not giving Yurov an extended look in that spot. The Colorado Avalanche have an eight-point lead on the Wild in the Central Division with two games in hand, and are likely out of reach. Dallas is up three with a game in hand, giving them the inside track to have home-ice advantage. Catching Dallas is a worthy goal, but it should be manageable for Minnesota, even if they experiment with Yurov.

The Wild’s next five games all come against non-playoff teams. Four of those are at home, where Hynes can choose how he wants to deploy a Yurov-led top line. While some measuring-stick games remain on the schedule (two against Dallas, at Tampa Bay Lightning, at Detroit Red Wings), 10 of their final 17 contests come against teams who are unlikely to make the playoffs.

It’s a good time to give Yurov a look, and it’s worth trying something different to spark Kaprizov at 5-on-5. Kaprizov’s going to get his points, especially on this Hughes-charged power play. But Kaprizov is tied for just 33rd in the NHL with 33 5-on-5 points, and tied for 52nd in 5-on-5 goals. By comparison, Kaprizov had 12 goals and 31 5-on-5 points last year… in just 41 games. 

So why wouldn’t Hynes try making a switch and seeing what happens?

It’s conjecture, but the Wild might be nervous about Yurov’s ability to handle himself in the faceoff circle. As a fairly recent convert to the position — they drafted him as a winger — Yurov hasn’t mastered the technique, winning just 38.9% of his draws. However, those concerns are overblown, and not just because Hartman (44.2% with faceoffs) is only marginally better.

The strategic value of winning faceoffs is situational. At 5-on-5, the puck changes hands so often that it rarely matters who wins the draw. It’s faceoffs on the power play (when losing denies yourself valuable time), the penalty kill (when winning denies your opponent possession), and in a handful of gotta-have-it faceoffs, usually at the end of a period or game, where it truly matters.

Even in a top-line role, Yurov isn’t taking any of those draws. He’s had under 33 minutes of power play time this season, and he doesn’t play on the penalty kill. That solves most of the problem. If the Wild find themselves in crunch time, especially in the playoffs against Dallas, it’s unlikely that Yurov or Hartman will be on the ice, anyway. When the Wild are truly in need of a goal with time running out, they’ll almost certainly turn to a loaded top line of Kaprizov, Boldy, and Eriksson Ek.

The Wild’s depth means they have plenty of options down the stretch, and 17 games is quite a bit of time to mix and match their lineup and see what works. If Yurov can shine with Kaprizov, then great, they have a look to give Dallas in the playoffs that can make them sweat. If not, then they have Hartman in their back pocket, with Yurov showing to be a capable third-liner with Vladimir Tarasenko and Bobby Brink.

It’s a worthy experiment, and Hynes needs to conduct it now while he has the chance.