ST. PAUL, Minn. — The 2026 NHL Draft has come and gone, with several teams dramatically reshaping their rosters with headline-making trades. The Minnesota Wild were not among them.

It’s not for a lack of trying.

As of now, the Wild have set their sights on basically one player: Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, who wants out of the only franchise he has played for and has listed Minnesota as one of the teams he’d like to go to.

Of course, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman controls that decision, and as of now, he has not pulled the trigger on the Wild’s offer or anybody else’s.

Yzerman now confirms Larkin’s trade request, with short list of teams. But adds Larkin had 5 years remaining on his contract, says his job is to do what’s in the best interest of the Red Wings and he will act accordingly. Said he didn’t make any guarantees RE: meeting the request

— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) June 27, 2026

Minnesota will keep trying, but if a deal can’t be done before the opening bell of free agency on Wednesday at 11 a.m., it’ll be interesting to see how Wild GM Bill Guerin proceeds, because the team has a couple of glaring holes up front, with top-nine wingers Mats Zuccarello, Vladimir Tarasenko and Marcus Johansson all potentially out the door.

They cannot afford to come away empty-handed.

“We have to go business as usual and make sure that we put the most competitive team on the ice that we can,” Guerin said after the Wild selected three players on Day 2 of the NHL Draft on Saturday. They had no first-round selections on Day 1.

Regardless of whether the Wild can land Larkin, they have plenty of work ahead in retooling a lineup that was eliminated in the second round by the Colorado Avalanche.

Between Zuccarello (15 goals), Johansson (15) and Tarasenko (23), that’s three of Minnesota’s top seven goal scorers last season and three of their top eight point producers (Zuccarello ranked third).

That’s 150 points combined.

For the record, Guerin wouldn’t say with finality on Saturday that those three free agents won’t be back, although we know Johansson won’t because he has returned to finish his playing days in Sweden.

Tarasenko seems to have priced himself out of a return, and it sure feels like the Wild have decided to move on from Zuccarello.

According to league sources, granted anonymity to discuss talks that aren’t public, Zuccarello is pretty ticked about how things have gone. So even if the Wild circled back, there’s a very good bet he’d test free agency with so many teams in need of a point-producing winger like him, even though he’ll be 39 by the time next season begins. The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks would both make sense as suitors.

When Zuccarello said in the playoffs that he wanted to play one or two more years, and when Guerin told The Athletic that the Wild “always” have interest in the veteran winger, the implication seemed to be that one or two phone calls would get this deal done. Still, the Wild had many balls in the air as they explored trades (like for Larkin). They had to put Zuccarello on the back burner with cap space at a premium.

It also appears they’re ready to move away from the pairing of him and long-time linemate and good friend Kirill Kaprizov.

The two have been inseparable, with Zuccarello a key mentor in transitioning the Russian superstar into the league. Their on-ice chemistry was special, with Zuccarello assisting on 93 of Kaprizov’s 230 career goals (and nine of his 19 playoff goals).

But the Wild feel Kaprizov relied too heavily on Zuccarello. They want him to start developing chemistry with other players and rid himself of the east-west hockey the elite-passing Zuccarello loves to play.

Zuccarello still plays a productive brand of hockey. When the Wild came out of the gate struggling this past season (5-7-3), their fate turned when Zuccarello made his debut in November following core muscle surgery. The Wild had points in Zuccarello’s first 12 games (10-0-2).

So there are a lot of ripple effects here, with the Wild having to figure out replacements either via trade or free agency.

Wingers the Wild could pursue in free agency include New York Islanders captain Anders Lee, the Seattle Kraken’s Jaden Schwartz and even Patrik Laine, despite the fact that he once refused to waive his no-trade clause to come from the Columbus Blue Jackets to Minnesota.

Patrick Kane would seem like an ideal replacement for Zuccarello, but it’s up in the air whether he returns to Detroit. Claude Giroux is another intriguing potential free agent because he’s a winger who’s one of the best in the NHL in the faceoff circle (63 percent last season for the Ottawa Senators).

“If you’re looking for superstars or something like that, they’re just not (there),” Guerin said. “But there’s some very good players out there that could help us.”

Minnesota could be counting on Bobby Brink, acquired in the David Jiricek deadline deal, to step in for Tarasenko as a second- or third-line winger — and for a price tag that will likely be around $3.5 million annually, Brink very well should.

If the Wild got 23 goals out of Brink next year, they’d be very happy. The Minnetonka native has 38 career goals over 214 NHL games.

“He’s a good player, he’s got offensive ability, he’s got a lot of room to grow and he needs to learn certain parts of playing a certain brand of hockey,” Guerin said. “But he definitely has natural ability and instincts and the ability to produce. He’s one of those guys that we could look to.”

But two of the wingers the Wild may have to replace — Zuccarello and Johansson — have been players their two best offensive players — Kaprizov and Matt Boldy — love to play with. The Kaprizov-Zuccarello bromance is well-documented. And Boldy is a huge fan of Johansson. He trusts him and appreciates the details in his game. Johansson was one of the team’s best puck transporters and zone-entry forwards, which plays a role in Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek’s line clicking so well. Zuccarello is one of the few non-shoot-first players in their top six.

That’s where a Laine addition may not make that much sense. He’s a shoot-first winger who isn’t a gifted skater and doesn’t often create his own shot. The Wild need playmakers.

Even if Minnesota can bring Schwartz and/or Lee, how they fit is still up for debate.

If the Wild get Larkin, they’d likely be dealing Danila Yurov as part of the package. The Wild would also be way over the cap before filling out the rest of their roster.

So they’d have to trade some players in that deal or subsequent ones.

Yakov Trenin is one player they’re shopping. He makes $3.5 million for two more years. Nico Sturm has one year left at $2 million. If you trade one of them, perhaps you re-sign Nick Foligno at a reasonable price.

Others who could conceivably be traded: Ryan Hartman ($4 million), Jonas Brodin ($6 million) or even captain Jared Spurgeon ($7.575 million). Brodin has no-trade protection, while Hartman and Spurgeon have modified no-trade clauses.

However, if they were to trade Brodin or Spurgeon, you’d have to replace them.

Jake Middleton ($4.35 million) and Marcus Foligno ($4 million) have no-move clauses until limited no-trades kick in July 1, so that protects each for the time being. Guerin indicated the Wild want Zach Bogosian back, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him signed soon.

The hope, of course, is for young players to step in and make an impact on the roster. It would certainly help if the likes of Brink, Hunter Haight and Charlie Stramel (if he’s not traded), for example, can make that kind of impression.

“I’ve always said, like, ‘They’ve got to show me,’” Guerin said. “I can’t sit here and say, ‘Oh, you know, we want this guy to be in this spot or that.’ I can’t say that, because they have to show me. I’m not putting anybody anywhere. Charlie Stramel’s got ability. He’s a big kid. He’s a right-shot center. He’s going to have to come in and prove to us that he belongs in this league and on our team and can help us win. Same thing with Hunter Haight and all these other young guys.

“They have to come in and do it. I hope they do, but they’ve got to be in the right mindset to come in and make their way in this league. It’s not easy, but you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and maybe do some stuff that you’re not used to doing, or do some stuff that you don’t like doing. But you’ve got to push, and you’ve got to make sure that you’re ready to compete for a job.”

With Filip Gustavsson ($6.8 million) likely to be out until at least November following hip surgery, the Wild don’t want to trade Jesper Wallstedt ($2.2 million). However, he’s still their best trade chip, so anything could be on the table if they get another goalie back. Remember, he’s in the last year of his contract, so he’s going to get a serious pay bump next summer.

At the very least, the Wild need to acquire a third goalie who can start the season with Wallstedt while Gustavsson is hurt and be a regular in AHL Iowa.

“Either way we can get it, whether it’s through free agency or through a trade,” Guerin said. “We’ll look to do something like that.”

Larkin is still the player the Wild want. If they can’t get him, they will likely continue to remain patient and not blow their precious remaining assets on another center. For instance, Vincent Trocheck would likely cost a first-round pick and Yurov.

But Guerin reminds, “We were a pretty good team (this past season). When there’s the offseason, you’re always talking about, ‘Oh, what do they need to do. this, that, get this guy, get that guy, get this position.’

“We’re still a pretty good team, and we’ve got some holes to fill. We’ll fill them. We just don’t know in which way we’ll do that right now, but we’re working at looking at a lot of different things.”

Depth chartForwards
LWCRW

Kaprizov ($17 million)

Eriksson Ek ($5.25 million)

Boldy ($7 million)

——

Hartman ($4 million)

——

Foligno ($4 million)

McCarron ($3.33 million)

Brink (RFA)

Trenin ($3.5 million)

Yurov ($972,500)

Sturm ($2 million)

——

Pending unrestricted free agents: Mats Zuccarello, Vladimir Tarasenko, Marcus Johansson, Nick Foligno, Robby Fabbri, Ben Jones, Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Pending restricted free agents: Bobby Brink, Caedan Bankier, Oskar Olausson*, Cameron Butler*, Bradley Marek*

Roster hopefuls: Hunter Haight ($883,833), Charlie Stramel ($1.075 million), Tyler Pitlick ($850,000), Riley Heidt ($940,833), Rieger Lorenz ($1.013 million), Bankier (RFA), Rasmus Kumpulainen ($924,583)

* The Wild are not expected to tender these players qualifying offers on Monday, thus making them unrestricted free agents on Monday.

Defensemen
LDRD

Hughes ($7.85 millon)

Faber ($8.5 million)

Brodin ($6 million)

Spurgeon ($7.575 million)

Middleton ($4.35 million)

Hunt (RFA)

——

Pending unrestricted free agents: Zach Bogosian, Jeff Petry, Ben Gleason

Pending restricted free agents: Carson Lambos, David Spacek, Roman Schmidt

Roster hopefuls: Viking Gustafsson Nyberg ($975,000), Matt Kiersted ($850,000), Lambos (RFA), Spacek (RFA), Ben Dexheimer ($980,000), Schmidt (RFA), Jack Peart ($942,500), Stevie Leskovar ($960,000)

Goalies

Wallstedt ($2.2 million)

Gustavsson ($6.8 million)

Pending unrestricted free agent: Cal Petersen

Pending restricted free agent: Samuel Hlavaj*

Roster hopefuls: Riley Mercer ($920,000), Chase Wutzke ($958,333)

* The Wild are not expected to tender Hlavaj a qualifying offer on Monday, thus making him an unrestricted free agent on Monday.

Cap space

Cap charges: $90,330,833

Parise/Suter buyout charges: $1,666,666

Projected salary cap for 2026-27: $104 million

Projected salary-cap space: $12,002,501 (excludes re-signings)

Sources: The Athletic and PuckPedia