Wild trade tracker: Minnesota gets Petry cheap, pursuit of Trocheck fades as price remains too high
Heading into the NHL’s March 6 trade deadline, The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith will update this trade and news tracker with all of the goings-on of the Minnesota Wild, so be sure to bookmark it and return often.
Wild trade for Petry
LAS VEGAS — Jeff Petry signed with the Florida Panthers hoping to become the latest player to sign a one-year deal with Florida and leave with a Stanley Cup ring.
Well, maybe that’ll happen in Minnesota now that the two-time Stanley Cup-winning Panthers’ playoff chances are in peril.
The respected veteran defenseman was traded to the Wild on Thursday for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in June. The pick becomes a 2026 fifth-round pick if the Wild win two playoff rounds and Petry plays in 50 percent or more of their playoff games during those first two rounds.
Petry, 38, gives the Wild right-shot depth and, per team sources, understands he’s coming to Minnesota to be an extra behind Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon and Zach Bogosian. Petry, who has a big shot, is more of a defensive puck mover at this stage in his career, but the Wild like his experience and the fact that he shoots right.
Also, the fact that the Wild added a right-shot defenseman makes you wonder if David Jiricek and/or David Spacek are in play before Friday’s deadline.
Petry will join the team in time for its game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night.
Petry has eight assists in 58 games for Florida this season. The Ann Arbor native has scored 96 goals and 393 points in 1,039 games over 16 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and the Panthers and has blocked 1,616 shots. He has played in 48 playoff games. — March 5
Pursuit of Trocheck is fading
The Wild’s hopes of getting Vincent Trocheck are fading.
The price for the New York Rangers center appears to be too rich at this point. It may just be that they don’t have the assets to get it done for a 32-year-old multi-faceted player with three years left on a reasonable $5.625 million average-annual-value contract.
Minnesota continues its pursuit of a center, though, and after acquiring Michael McCarron from the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, the Wild are likely looking for a top-six addition. That means they wouldn’t have interest in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Scott Laughton.
There aren’t many top-six centers out there right now. The St. Louis Blues are understandably looking for a ton for Robert Thomas, and it’s extremely unlikely the Wild have interest in the Vancouver Canucks’ Elias Pettersson. Nazem Kadri is 35, so his three years left at $7 million annually wouldn’t be palatable.
The Wild have shown interest in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Charlie Coyle, though at this stage in his career, he is not a prototypical top-six center. And as of now, Columbus has indicated to teams it’s not moving him.
The Nashville Predators’ Ryan O’Reilly is another center the Wild would have interest in. It remains to be determined if he wants to move, though. He doesn’t have no-trade protection but is being treated as such by Predators management, so his decision likely depends on the team pursuing him.
Remember, the Wild may find it smarter to hang onto their remaining assets and go big-game hunting this offseason if potential difference makers hit the market. — March 5
New Wild teammates on McCarron: ‘He’s an honest player’
The Michael McCarron acquisition was the talk of the locker room before Tuesday’s 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, in large part because he’s had so many run-ins with Wild players over the years. He’s fought 42 times in all during a nine-year NHL career that started as a 2013 Montreal Canadiens first-round pick, including twice against Jake Middleton and once against Marcus Foligno.
“He’s a good, honest player,” Middleton said. “He’s hard on the forecheck. He does extremely well on the kill. He’s a great addition to our room.”
Read more Wild player reaction to the trade. — March 4
Guerin on McCarron sticker shock: ‘Deal with that down the road’
The sticker shock of the Wild trading a 2028 second-round pick to the Nashville Predators for fourth-line center Michael McCarron had many Minnesota fans and some hockey writers questioning the move Tuesday.
Wild president and general manager Bill Guerin countered bluntly: “That second-round pick is not going to help us right now. If we have to get it back in three years or whatever, maybe we can do that. But we went through the same thing in Pittsburgh one year. We didn’t want to give up a third-round pick for somebody, and Jim Rutherford said that third-round pick better be a pretty good f—ing player.
“Look, second-round picks are valuable, but we want to improve our team now. We can deal with that down the road. So, I’m not worried about that.”
One reason why Guerin had to trade a 2028 second-round pick is that he already traded the team’s 2026 second-round pick to Nashville for Gustav Nyquist last season and the team’s 2027 second-round pick to Columbus as part of the David Jiricek package last year.
“Well, we have one in ’29 also,” Guerin quipped. “We still plan on being active, but we just might not be putting second-round picks out there.”
That was one of Guerin’s main messages during his availability Tuesday night before the team’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning: that the McCarron trade doesn’t preclude him from continuing his pursuit of a top-six center. Vincent Trocheck remains likely their top target.
“We can still add,” he said. “Honestly, I always like to be confident. But you just don’t know. It’s a crazy time. You might think you have something, and you don’t. And you might think you’re done, and something big comes across your desk, and you can react. But we’re continuing to try to improve the team and help, and we’ll see what level we can do that.”
Once upon a time, Guerin signed McCarron’s brother, John, to a contract in Wilkes-Barre when he was the Penguins’ assistant GM. And he got to know Michael at the 2025 World Championships when Guerin was there scouting the U.S. team managed by Jeff Kealty. That team won the first U.S. gold medal in 92 years.
“He’s a good guy,” Guerin said. “He’s excited to be coming here, and he’s really looking forward to it.”
McCarron, 30, has had a lot of run-ins over the years with Wild players. He’s fought Jake Middleton two times and Marcus Foligno once. Last season, he and Mats Zuccarello got into it at the bench and each was fined. In December, McCarron appeared to embellish a slash by Zuccarello. He skated off with an apparent injury and drew a major penalty. It was reviewed and rescinded when replays showed Zuccarello didn’t get him. The review delayed the game, and McCarron returned with a smirk on his face and skated to the penalty box with no injury.
“It doesn’t carry over, I don’t think,” Guerin said. “We’ll see. They’re professionals. This has been going on for 100 years in this league.”
Predators center Steven Stamkos said it was tough for the team to hear McCarron was dealt.
“A little bit of a gut punch right before a game,” Stamkos said on FanDuel TV. “Understandable to come out maybe a little flat because of emotions on what went on before the game.” — March 3
Read more on the McCarron trade:
Why the Wild added Fabbri
The Wild, hoping to upgrade their bottom-six forward depth, claimed Robby Fabbri off waivers Monday from the St. Louis Blues.
Fabbri, 30, is likely going to fit in as a fourth-line winger and potentially a penalty killer for a Minnesota group that’s lacked secondary scoring as of late. Fabbri has just one goal in 15 games for St. Louis this year but had 18 goals for the Detroit Red Wings as recently as 2023-24 and 17 in 2021-22. He also appeared in 10 playoff games for the Blues during their 2019 Stanley Cup run. He’s scored 15 or more goals four times in his career.
Minnesota is already without veteran winger Marcus Foligno, who was placed on injured reserve Monday with a lower-body injury. Their fourth line during Sunday’s loss to the Blues included Vinnie Hinostroza (one goal and two points in his past 10 games) and Nico Sturm (three goals in 38 games this season). Tyler Pitlick was put on waivers on Monday.
The Wild have lost two of their first three games since the Olympic break, with their offense primarily coming from Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy. Fabbri provides another veteran option who could benefit from a fresh start. Basically, he’s a free pickup who gives them a better option than Pitlick or Ben Jones. — March 2
Trocheck on trade possibility
The Wild continue to have significant interest in center Vincent Trocheck, who met with a small group of reporters in Tarrytown, N.Y., on Monday morning in advance of the New York Rangers’ game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Rangers have two games left before the trade deadline, and New York has a history of sitting players as asset protection, including Mats Zuccarello before he was dealt to the Dallas Stars in 2019, four months before signing with the Wild.
So Trocheck, the top target on The Athletic’s trade board, is well aware his days could be numbered in New York and seems at peace with whatever happens as long as he’s dealt to a contender.
“If I’m gonna get traded to a team that’s in the same situation as us, then I don’t want to move,” Trocheck told reporters, according to The Athletic’s Vince Mercogliano. “That sounds miserable in a new city. I am 32 years old. I would like to win a Stanley Cup, so if I am going to get traded, I would like to go to a team that’s winning, or has a chance to win.”
Trocheck, who has three years left on his contract after this one at a $5.625 cap hit, confirmed that he’d like to stay east because of his family situation and that several Western Conference teams are on his 12-team no-trade list. The Athletic has confirmed the Wild are not one of those teams, though, and he has a great relationship with Wild president of hockey operations Bill Guerin through USA Hockey, as well as recent gold-medal Olympic teammates Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber.
The Wild are in need of a center, preferably a right shot, and one who can win draws (they have had the faceoff edge in just 13 of 61 games this year and rank 31st in the NHL on faceoffs) and kill penalties (they rank 22nd in the NHL). That’s Trocheck to a T. He is perennially one of the NHL’s best in the faceoff circle, and we just saw at the Olympics during the United States’ perfect penalty kill how good he is in that department.
“I feel like I’m as involved as I can be,” Trocheck said of trade talk. “I only have a 12-team no-trade clause. It’s not like I have full protection and I need to be in with them on every single phone call. But I mean, me and (GM Chris Drury) have a great relationship. He’s been very open and honest with me and transparent, so I feel like I get as many calls as a player could get.”
Have the #NYR considering sitting Trocheck for roster management purposes?
“Not to this point, no,” Sullivan said.
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) March 2, 2026
There is no doubt that the Wild have made their one and final offer. Guerin has a history of going straight to his final offer — not messing around. So if Trocheck’s traded to the Wild by Friday’s 2 p.m. deadline (noon PT, where the Wild will be Friday), there’s no doubt Drury knows by now exactly what he’d receive from Minnesota and could even be shopping around to see if he can get a better package.
The Wild have traded most of their blue-chip prospects and draft picks away in the recent David Jiricek and Hughes packages, so there’s a definite possibility that what the Wild offered — perhaps centering around prospect Charlie Stramel, maybe another prospect and a 2027 first-round pick — isn’t enough.
Regardless, Trocheck is aware of the Wild’s interest. Before the Wild’s Olympians and staff took a group picture in advance of the United States’ first game at the Olympics, Guerin joked with Trocheck that he should join in. That got laughs from Trocheck and even Drury as the 32-year-old faked skating over to the goal crease, where the picture was about to be snapped. — March 2
Looking for faceoff guys, maybe Foligno help
Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin conducted an exclusive interview with The Athletic on Friday in Salt Lake City, so you can read his thoughts going into the trade deadline in our Wild Insider that appeared Sunday morning.
On Sunday, an hour before the Wild hosted the St. Louis Blues, Guerin reiterated his desire to improve in the faceoff circle heading into Friday’s 2 p.m. deadline. And one other thing has cropped up that could affect deadline plans: the health of Marcus Foligno.
The veteran checker — who is one of the Wild’s better penalty killers and defensive forwards — has sustained a lower-body injury. He’s seeing doctors to determine the extent of the injury, but if it’s an ailment that could keep him sidelined for a significant amount of time, Guerin does have the flexibility and time to address the matter with an external addition.
“Guys like him are hard to find,” Guerin said. “I guess I don’t have a great answer for you right now. It’s just kind of new, and we’ll figure it out in the next couple days and see how he’s really doing.”
Guerin did tell The Athletic after the news conference that he remains hopeful Foligno won’t be out long, but as we said, at least with the injury popping up before the trade deadline, Guerin can react if needed.
Guerin doubled down on the fact that the biggest area of need is faceoffs. The Wild have had the faceoff edge in 13 of 60 games this season.
“Our center position is extremely important,” he said. “We could do a top-six, or we could do a bottom-six. We could do either/or. But I think our current guys have to be better in the faceoff circle no matter what. That has to change. But we can also look at getting somebody that could help us in that department.” — March 1
Stamkos interested in Wild?
According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, Steven Stamkos has the Wild on his short list of teams he’d be open to getting traded to. The other teams are the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning, Stamkos’ old team, where he was the long-time face of the franchise.
This is an interesting development on a few fronts. The fact Stamkos has the Wild on his short list shows how far the team has come in terms of being considered a true contender. It also could give Minnesota some leverage, knowing there are only limited options Predators GM Barry Trotz can work with if he decides to deal the likely future Hall of Famer.
Stamkos, 36, has a full no-move clause, so he holds all the cards. And when asked by The Athletic a few weeks ago what he’d consider leading into the trade deadline (staying or going), he put it like this. “You want to win.”
Now, does Stamkos make sense for Minnesota?
The Wild could really use a right shot (like Stamkos) on the top power-play unit, and other than Alex Ovechkin, what player in the 2000s has been better at one-timing pucks from the left circle on the power play? Stamkos’ 611 goals (19th in NHL history) since coming into the league in 2008-09 rank second in the NHL behind Ovechkin’s 756 over that span.
Imagine how enticing it would be to have Quinn Hughes teeing up Stamkos, who is having a resurgent season in Nashville with 29 goals in 58 games. A power play with Hughes, Stamkos, Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek would be extremely potent.
Stamkos has two years left on his contract at $8 million. Even if Nashville didn’t retain salary/cap space, the Wild can afford the 36-year-old now and over the next two years.
What they’d have to decide “for the now” is whether adding a high-scoring winger makes more sense than adding a center.
It’s an interesting debate because no team has scored more goals since Hughes’ arrival than the Wild, and he’s the best puck-moving defenseman in the league. And when you possess two play-driving wingers in Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy and add Stamkos, perhaps adding a No. 1 center isn’t a necessity. There’s a chance Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman, Danila Yurov and Nico Sturm could be good enough to go on a deep run.
Stamkos can still play center, too, and is strong in the faceoff dot — another reason he’d have some draw for the Wild.
He’s also good friends with Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian, a member of his 2008 NHL Draft class and former Lightning teammate. Bogosian could help Stamkos and his family get set up in the Twin Cities and the area’s youth hockey scene.
What the Wild would be willing to give up is one wrinkle. Is a Charlie Stramel-led package, with a 2027 first-round pick, etc., enough?
Another slight issue: The Predators keep winning and are only two points out of a playoff spot. — Feb. 27
Wild interested in Trocheck
There’s no doubt Bill Guerin has been sizing up the center market and has called on everybody from Robert Thomas to Nazem Kadri to Ryan O’Reilly to Charlie Coyle.
If Guerin wants to swing for the fences and is willing to part with significant assets, likely including goalie Jesper Wallstedt, Thomas would fit the bill. But the moment you give up Wallstedt, that likely takes you out of big-game hunting this offseason or into next season.
The Wild’s top target is Vincent Trocheck, the New York Rangers veteran who just won a gold medal in Milan with Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber.
At 32, the right-shot center is one of the best faceoff guys in the NHL, can score, would be terrific in the bumper position on the power play and showed in Milan on the United States’ 18-for-18 penalty kill that he could aid the Wild in that area.
Since 2016-17, Trocheck has also been one of the best faceoff men in the NHL, at 55 percent, and since 2000-01, the Wild are the third-worst.
Trocheck has three years left on his contract with a $5.625 million average annual value. Because his contract is reasonable and there’s such a dearth at the center position in the NHL, he will be highly coveted this week, and you can bet Rangers general manager Chris Drury will try to squeeze the best deal out of all interested teams. So the Wild will have to decide whether they’re willing to give up the price required to get Trocheck, knowing the more assets they trade now, the more difficult it’ll be to go after a big fish this summer or next season.
“That’s a really good question, because that’s probably the biggest thing that goes through my brain all the time is, ‘Patience, patience, patience.’” Guerin told The Athletic on a recent “Fellowship of the Rink” podcast. “And if it doesn’t happen now, maybe it’s not meant to be? Maybe there’s something bigger in the summer? We were patient. You don’t think a player like Quinn Hughes becomes available, but look at how early in the season he did become available.
“So I have to look at the history of things to help me be patient. I’ve always said, ‘No knee-jerk moves.’ I’m not always true to myself on that. But I try to be. We really try to weigh the pros and cons.” — Feb. 27
