The Minnesota Wild are heading home after falling by a score of 4-3 in overtime in Game 5 of Round 2 in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Colorado Avalanche. This loss is extra bitter given the Wild blew a 3-0 lead and were playing without defenseman Jonas Brodin and their top center, Joel Eriksson Ek.
Despite the five-game series loss, Minnesota showed they have the talent and players to keep competing in the Central Division and, one day, reach the Stanley Cup Final. However, the loss also highlighted a major weakness of the team that General Manager Bill Guerin failed to address: the center position.
Everyone praised Guerin for acquiring defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks. Guerin stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun, sending Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, and a first-round pick. Quinn Hughes paid dividends and more for the Wild, getting to the second round in a tough Central Division.
Hughes carried the load offensively and defensively for the Wild, averaging over 30 minutes a night and recording 15 points (four goals and 11 assists) in 11 games. That is all well and good, but the Minnesota Wild could not match the Avalanche’s depth down the middle.
Management Made the Edmonton Oilers Roster Worse Not Better
With Rossi in Vancouver and Eriksson-Ek hurt, that meant Ryan Hartman, Yakov Trenin, Nico Sturm, Robby Fabbri, and Michael McCarron were matching up with Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri, and Nicolas Roy or Jack Drury.
That is hard to go up against every game. However, the Wild showed competence and fight, but there were players at the trade deadline that Guerin could have gone after that would have helped the Wild in this series. The biggest one being Vincent Trocheck of the New York Rangers.
“Joel Eriksson Ek not being in this lineup has clearly hurt this team. We knew their depth down the middle. Victoria, you and I talked about this; we’ve said they don’t have the center depth. They should have got a center. Where is Vincent Trocheck? Still with the Rangers. He needs to be in Minnesota.”
Now, is Vincent Trocheck the missing piece for the Minnesota Wild? Maybe he was, and maybe he wasn’t. But when Trocheck brings his playoff experience and ability to win faceoffs. Not to mention, he can provide offense outside of Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy up front.
For his career in the playoffs, Trocheck has 37 points (17 goals and 20 assists) in 56 playoff games. We all know what Trocheck did for the Rangers alongside Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere during their run to the 2024 Eastern Conference Final. He had 20 points (eight goals and 12 assists) in 16 games.
The Rangers best line was the Trocheck line. So adding a piece like this takes pressure off the young players, and if the Eriksson Ek injury happens, it doesn’t cripple the team. Again, the players did an admirable job, but not having a number one center hurts a team. The Wild should know, given they beat the Dallas Stars without Roope Hintz.
Trocheck is the cheapest with three years at $5.625 million a season. But again, the Rangers and Chris Drury had to win a trade for Trocheck, given their situation with other trades involving Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Chris Kreider, and the list goes on.
Quinn Hughes is Open to Extending with the Minnesota Wild
Outside of extending defenseman Quinn Hughes, this team needs a center, plain and simple. As Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic noted, whether it is Nico Hischier or Jack Hughes from New Jersey, Brady Tkachuk (not a center) from Ottawa, Auston Matthews from Toronto, or Robert Thomas from St. Louis, the Wild need help down the middle.
As we write, here are some of the young assets, which include Jesper Wallstedt, Danila Yurov, Bobby Brink, Daemon Hunt, Charlie Stramel, Hunter Haight, Riley Heidt, Adam Benak and, of course, future first-round picks that could be included in a trade.
Regardless, it is an interesting off-season for Bill Guerin and the Minnesota Wild.
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