Finding an elite center has been at the top of the Minnesota Wild’s for decades but the team is still looking for one as they enter the offseason. While Mikko Koivu’s number is hanging in the rafters at Grand Casino Arena, they haven’t had a game-changing playmaker down the middle and it has created one of the summer’s most interesting storylines.
It’s one thing to say you want another center. But it’s another thing to put him on the roster. The Wild currently have a log jam of good but not great centers and if general manager Bill Guerin can land the big fish, someone will have to go in return.
Some believe that Danila Yurov is the most likely to exit in such a trade. But if the right deal appears, a separate trade involving Ryan Hartman could help Minnesota land their coveted No. 1 center.
Ryan Hartman’s time with Wild should end amid No. 1 center pursuit
The Wild may have had thoughts about trading Hartman one year ago, but that idea was complicated. Hartman had developed a reputation as a controversial player and was slapped with a 10-game suspension for ramming Ottawa Senators center Tim Stutzle’s head into the ice While the suspension was reduced to eight games via appeal, the damage had been done as Hartman was under close watch as a repeat offender.
That status would have made sense if Minnesota wanted to shop him last summer. But a 15-team no-trade clause and the thought that one wrong move could result in a double-digit suspension tanked his value. With that in mind, the Wild had Hartman return, but rumors persisted as late as last December, meaning he could be on the market again this summer.
The good news is that Hartman has rehabbed his value. The bad is he could be ripe for regression. Hartman’s 23 goals were his highest total since scoring 34 times during the 2021-22 season and his 13.8 percent shooting percentage was nearly double his 7.0 percent rate in that 2021-22 campaign. His agitating presence didn’t cross the line and his 48 penalty minutes were his fewest since posting 33 minutes during the 2020-21 season, making now the time to trade Hartman.
A reformed Hartman would be an asset to keep around on a Stanley Cup team. But it also may not be possible if the Wild are serious about big game hunting. Acquiring the No. 1 center would push Hartman below Joel Eriksson Ek to the third line, but it would also keep Yakov Trenin on the fourth line.
While the Wild seem more interested in trading younger players than developing them, keeping Hartman would also block the progress of Yurov, Hunter Haight and Charlie Stramel if they are forced to upgrade elsewhere on the trade market this summer.
The Wild have miscast Hartman as a top-line center the past few years and trading him would remove the temptation for John Hynes to do it again next year. While Hartman is a polarizing presence, he has plenty of trade value entering the summer and it may be the perfect time to turn him in for an upgrade and land the elite center that Minnesota has been looking for.
