As the Wild gear up for an all-in trade deadline following their earlier acquisition of Quinn Hughes, they’re now the league-wide favorite to acquire center Vincent Trocheck from the Rangers, according to Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic and David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Minnesota’s interest in Trocheck dates back several weeks but was surely fueled by Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic’s report earlier this month that the Rangers had essentially resigned themselves to moving him by the deadline, as compared to making it a summer deal. For a team that lost a top-six center in Marco Rossi in the Hughes deal, adding another one – a clear-cut upgrade, no less – is a natural next step for general manager Bill Guerin as he aims to guide the Wild out of a cutthroat Central Division picture in the playoffs.
While salary cap considerations have kept the Wild out of major trade conversations in recent years, that’s no longer the case. Even after the Hughes deal, they project to have $12.3MM in cap space on deadline day, per PuckPedia. That’s more than enough to take on Trocheck’s deal, which runs at a cap hit of $5.625MM through 2028-29, with no retention and without subtracting a roster player from the mix.
Minnesota has depleted a good portion of its valuable young talent, shipping off Liam Ohgren and Zeev Buium alongside Rossi in the Hughes trade, but has more to spare. As Mercogliano writes, 2022 first-rounder Danila Yurov is likely a non-starter. The rookie has eight goals and 22 points in 52 outings this season and is now Minnesota’s clear-cut top “prospect,” depending on your definition of the word. Mercogliano relays word from his Minnesota-based colleague, Michael Russo, that he “would be very difficult to pry away,” even for a talent like Trocheck with 37 points in 44 games on an offensively stagnant Rangers club.
Aside from that roadblock, there are still plenty of other names the Wild could leverage for the Rangers to consider. Center Charlie Stramel, the Wild’s first-rounder in 2023, has recovered nicely from a tough start to his college career and is now a standout 21-year-old senior at Michigan State, posting a 19-21–40 scoring line in 30 games with a +30 rating that leads forwards nationally. Right-shot defenseman David Jiricek, drafted sixth overall by the Blue Jackets in 2022, hasn’t demonstrated much forward progress since his acquisition last season, and it stands to reason they’d be comfortable flipping him as a result.
Trocheck does have some say in where he ends up with a 12-team no-trade list. The 32-year-old is reportedly open to a move to the Twin Cities but would otherwise prefer to stay in the Eastern Conference. Pagnotta reports that the Kings, Jets, Mammoth, and Avalanche have expressed some level of interest as well, but those could all end up being non-starters based on his M-NTC.
Another site sez that Detroit has the upper hand because Vinny wishes to stay in the East and the Wings have more assets to NYRs liking. Vinny also has a connection to Detroit, having lived and played there in his youth.
Guerin has clearly abandoned the plan/Retool, And, Bringing in great players to increase your chances at the big prize usually includes giving up assets, So then the question becomes are the Wild any better off? And or, Any closer to the cup with Trocheck, And Hughes, And the Wild GM is also shopping Wallstedt, The current Wild plan, Pun intended is a one step forward, Two steps back approach.
He doesn’t really have a choice. It’s not a destination for premier FA. Once they traded for Hughes it pretty much for them to go “all in”
“Left-shot defenseman David Jiricek”
He is a RD, right shot………but is faltering badly.
Fixed
This seemed like the destination all along. Would it be enough to get the cup? I’m doubtful it is. Would be close though.
J.T. Miller has to be seriously reconsidering his desire to go back to N.Y.. Now his buddy VT will be gone soon.
JT doesn’t care all he worries about is himself. He dialed it in and quit the beginning of the year.
Stramel is a Minn native so I ‘d be surprised if he would be dealt. I think Yurov is more likely.
Detroit s a better match for NYR than Minn..
This doesn’t surprise me. Minnesota’s GM Bill Guerin has been a big fan of Vincent Trocheck for some time. He picked him for Team USA for 4 Nations and most recently, the Olympics. Trocheck fits what Minnesota needs for a center but he also provides physicality, versatile play, etc. Who Minnesota gives up in the trade is anyone’s guess at the moment. But Trocheck ending up in Minnesota seems quite likely at this point, as it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when it happen between now and the deadline.