It's already been a busy offseason for the Minnesota Wild, even if nothing much has actually happened yet.
We all knew the rumor mill would be blowing some pretty strong gusts across the State of Hockey, but the Dylan Larkin trade request has changed the category of storm the front office is facing.
The season isn't even officially over yet, either. We're still in the midst of what could quietly become a classic Stanley Cup for the ages, but all eyes in Minnesota are on the future and what could happen over the next few weeks that could land the Wild in a position to still be playing hockey this time next season.
Wild trading for Dylan Larkin is gaining some actual traction
Folks, this could actually happen.
In the days since Dylan Larkin requested a trade out of Detroit, the Wild have remained at the forefront of the conversation about where he'll land. It makes logical sense thanks to his relationship with Bill Guerin, Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber from their time with Team USA, but it's starting to gain actual traction in NHL circles.
Elliotte Friedman continues to mention the Wild as a potential landing spot, which is absolutely huge for fans in Minnesota. It's one thing to have a rumor kicked around the internet -- see the Sidney Crosby and Jack Hughes stuff as an example -- but it's an entirely different thing when someone as credible as Friedman joins in.
"This has the Wild written all over it," Friedman said on his 32 Thoughts podcast. "I think the No. 1 team everyone is looking at is Minnesota."
He's not going to say stuff "just for clicks"; if Friedman is fanning the flames, it's not just smoke being blown around. Something that did get a lot of clicks, per se, was an Instagram post from Hughes that let Billy G know exactly what he thinks of the rumors. Couple that with Friedman laying out what a trade package could look like, and all of a sudden this whole thing has more legs than a herd of giants.
Even still, there's a big difference between something being heavily speculated and it actually happening. The Wild aren't the only team that could use Larkin and certainly won't be the only ones making offers to the Red Wings. Let's not forget the context of Steve Yzerman getting one-upped by Guerin in the Hughes trade, and how poorly that painted the job he's doing.
If a deal happens, the Wild might have to pay a premium based on that, but it seems like the big offseason trade we've all been anticipating might come together even better than we all hoped.
NHL owners could force a playoff format change
Something that has been lost in the chaos of the Stanley Cup is the conversation about how deeply flawed and stupid the NHL's playoff format is.
While it might be lost, it's not forgotten.
According to Pierre LeBrun, NHL owners aren't being shy about how much they dislike the current format. If there's any group of people to rally behind making some actual changes, it's the billionaires whose bottom line is being directly impacted by Gary Bettman's misguided attempt to liven things up.
This year was a critical failure. The Wild beating the Stars emptied Minnesota's tank enough that it couldn't get past the Avalanche, who in turn ran out of gas and crash into the wall against Vegas.
None of the top three teams in the conference reached the Stanley Cup, which, unfortunately, was by design. Bettman is getting slightly bailed out thanks to how statistically historic the Cup showdown between the Knights and Canes has been, but people don't care about stat sheets as much as what they see on the sheet of ice in front of them. What we're seeing is a Vegas team that truly hit the jackpot with this format going up against a Canes team that similarly benefited in the East.
It's at least been an entertaining Stanley Cup but it hasn't been must-watch television in the same way some of the earlier playoff series were. Wild fans mightbe biased but they're not alone in thinking the Dallas-Minnesota series had the feel of a semifinals matchup and the series against Colorado was a de facto Conference Final.
That's not how the format is drawn up, though, and it's clear fans aren't the only ones unhappy about it. We still got served some fantastic hockey this postseaon but making series like Wild-Stars or even Habs-Lightning a first round matchup is so deeply stupid that it's turning into a unifying force binding everyone not named Gary Bettman together against it.
