Wild’s pursuit of Rangers’ Vincent Trocheck ‘fading’

The New York Rangers own one of the top trade chips on the market in star forward Vincent Trocheck — and it’s looking like it’s going to take a haul to pry him out of the Big Apple.

Although the Minnesota Wild have been linked to the Team USA gold medalist, and it’s no secret general manager Bill Guerin would love to acquire his services, their hopes of bringing him to the State of Hockey are “fading,” as The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith reported on Thursday.

“The price for the New York Rangers center appears to be too rich at this point,” wrote the hockey insiders. “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.”

Trocheck has had another strong season on a lowly Blueshirts team in 2025-26, managing 39 points in 46 games.

Time for the Wild to pivot?

The Wild are flush with star wingers, led by Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy but also featuring Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson and Vladimir Tarasenko, among others.

But the club remains thin at the center position, with Ryan Hartman and Joel Eriksson Ek currently holding down the position on the top two lines. Minnesota is actively trying to improve down the middle, but that’s easier said than done in a sellers market that just saw Nicolas Roy move from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Colorado Avalanche for a first-round pick, and then some.

“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,” continued Russo and Smith.

“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.”

After making the blockbuster trade of the season to acquire superstar defensemen Quinn Hughes, the Wild are clearly in win-now mode. And Trocheck would certainly be a strong addition to the roster.

But Guerin and the front office may find it smarter to hold onto their assets and instead go big-game hunting in the offseason. That’s not a bad strategy, but considering Minnesota will probably be playing a Dallas Stars team in Round 1 that has won a franchise-record 10 games, getting out of the Western Conference in the postseason is going to be an incredibly difficult task.

If the Wild are able to beat the Stars — a series that would pit two of the league’s best teams against each other — it would probably be the NHL-best Avalanche waiting in Round 2.

It’ll be interesting to see if Guerin trusts in the roster as currently constructed after adding McCarron from the Predators, or continues looking for another piece ahead of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.