Wild's Stanley Cup Hopes Hinge on Trade for Vincent Trocheck Amid NHL Rumors at Deadline

The NHL trade deadline is looming on Friday, and the center market is heating up. Vincent Trocheck of the New York Rangers figures to be one of the players donning a new sweater sooner rather than later, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on his 32 Thoughts podcast.

The most prominent center in trade talks, Trocheck is likely to be dealt by the downward spiraling Rangers, with several teams linked to the 32-year-old Pittsburgh native.

Friedman reported that the Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, and his hometown Penguins would all be potential landing spots for the Team USA Olympic gold medalist. The Athletic's Vincent Mercogliano added the Carolina Hurricanes to the mix, but both he and Friedman concluded that the Wild are the favorite to land Trocheck.

As they should be.

Minnesota currently sits third in the Western Conference and has the potential to both make a deep playoff run and compete for a Stanley Cup. Trocheck is the top-six center that the team currently lacks and would go a long way in instantly improving the special teams that has plagued the Wild all season. He is a difference-making player who would catapult Minnesota into the NHL's elite.

Look no further than his performance in the Olympics, where his play helped prevent Canada from taking advantage of a 5-on-3 and scoring what would have been the game-winning goal.

A 12-goal, 27-assist player who is averaging 20:52 on the ice this season, he would be the veteran presence, with big-game experience, that the Wild needs to get over the proverbial hump and vie for the franchise's first Stanley Cup.

Michael Russo, during an appearance on The Flying V podcast, questioned whether the Wild would be willing to part with the pieces necessary to acquire Trocheck, noting that it would be difficult to pry Danila Yurov away from the franchise, considering he is widely considered the franchise's best young asset.

That may be the case, but the Wild have not advanced beyond the first round of the NHL playoffs since 2015. While they have been a regular attendee at the dance, they have routinely been a first-round out.

That cannot continue forever. The team has to get over the proverbial hump, and while it may be admirable to want to hold onto all future assets and wish for the best five to 10 years down the road, it is equally as important to strike while the proverbial iron is hot.

The Wild is as good a team now as the franchise has produced. Taking advantage of its roster, which includes Kirill Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Matthew Boldy while you have them, by adding a player of Trocheck's stature, is a Stanley Cup-winning move and one that Minnesota desperately needs to make to avoid stagnancy and, ultimately, another first round disappointment.