Dylan Larkin requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings over the offseason, and he is still with the team for now. The 2026-27 NHL regular season is rapidly approaching, and there are teams still checking on his availability.

The Minnesota Wild have been one of the teams interested in trading for Larkin. Minnesota believes it is a Stanley Cup contender after landing defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in December, a blockbuster that cost the Wild Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round pick.

Minnesota Wild Still Interested in Trading for Dylan Larkin

Michael Russo of The Athletic said on the Sept. 10 episode of Worst Seats in the House, the Wild podcast he co-hosts with Anthony LaPanta, that Minnesota has not moved on from the idea.

“The Wild still believe that they have a real good chance to get Dylan Larkin; we’ll see if it happens, right now the Red Wings don’t even have a general manager,” Russo said. The clip circulated on X through the account NHL Rumour Report.

Shawn Horcoff Changes the Math

That last part changed Tuesday, when the Red Wings named Shawn Horcoff their interim general manager. Detroit now has someone in the chair to take the call. Whether an interim general manager wants to make a franchise-sized trade before the Red Wings hire a permanent replacement is the next question.

No Cap Space for Minnesota

The Wild could be interested in Larkin all they want. The issue is that they do not have much cap space to work with. According to Spotrac, Minnesota has just $1,119,168 in cap space, which ranks 24th in the NHL.

The Red Wings have the most cap space in the league at $19,572,084, according to Spotrac. A trade between Detroit and Minnesota involving Larkin would be very complicated. Would Wild general manager Bill Guerin want to gut his roster just to acquire Larkin? It remains to be seen whether Minnesota would actually make the deal. If the Wild do not, it is because they do not have enough cap space to make it work.