Wilderness Walk: Trade rumors galore

Well, it’s about nine weeks before the NHL trade deadline and that means that the rumor train is starting to slowly chug and work its way around to every team, making sure there is enough to talk about.

Luckily, one particular writer at The Athletic put out their latest rumblings blog on pending free agents to really put some damn coal in the engine.

For our Minnesota Wild and their interests, the latest news is that Bo Horvat is definitely going to be traded after failed contract talk, and other potential top-end targets like Dylan Larkin and Ryan O’Reilly are slowly discussing future contracts. This trio of first-line centers is only even attainable if the Wild want to make a move to spend future assets on this current roster, which is an important question by itself.

Either way, we’re probably going to see some big names hit the trade board closer to the March 3 trade deadline.

That’s Wild

• The Wild played a not-so-great game last night and ended up losing in St. Paul to the Dallas Stars. In case you missed the action, we have the recap here for you. [Hockey Wilderness]
• The 2023 World Juniors is motoring along and Canadian Caedan Bankier got his first point in a blowout win. [Hockey Wilderness]

Off the trail...

• For more information about the Trade Rumblings and all that stuff on some pending free agents like David Pastrnak and Patrick Kane, it’s here. [The Athletic]
• The Seattle Kraken improved a whole lot compared to last season, but should they be seen as a legitimate playoff contender? Some people chimed in. [ESPN]
• Mullett Arena might be small, but it can still bring some star power. Michael Phelps and Vince Vaughn were recently seen at an Arizona Coyotes game. Weird. [NHL dot com]
• The way the Pittsburgh Penguins are using some players is a little strange. [Pensburgh]