Could the Minnesota Wild be interested in Auston Matthews? Do they have enough supplies for any of the top establishments available?
Sportsnet 590 THE FAN: Michael Russo of The Athletic was asked if the Minnesota Wild would be interested in Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews if he was made available. Do they have the assets to buy Matthews, or another top institution that might be available?
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Bourne: “Yes, yesterday on the show, we accused you of cheating.”
Russo: “Yes, I heard that.
Sam McKee: “Thank you for ‘we’. It was me.”
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Bourne: “We’re accusing you of cheating. The photo chosen for this story is Austin Matthews. I think, though, we know the situation, and I think it’s fair to ask, do you hear the noise about Matthews, Minnesota?”
Russo: “Well, I mean, I wouldn’t say I hear the noise, but I know Bill Guerin very well, and there’s no doubt he’ll be on it if Auston ever goes on the market.
And, I just don’t know if the Wild would have the assets to do that. Because I think any GM would look at the Quinn Hughes trade as kind of a template for such a trade. And, and the Wild couldn’t do another, you know, Liam Ohgren and Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi and the first. They no longer have those goods.
And I think if Auston Matthews comes out on the trade market, I also think there will be a lot of teams on it. But, but look, the Wild tried for 25, 26 years to get a starting center. They couldn’t.
We know what Bill Guerin thinks of Auston. So I think he will just be there. Let’s put it this way, if he were suddenly in a trade, the Wild would be in that. If Robert Thomas was suddenly in the center of a trade, the Wild would be in for it. If Brady Tkachuk, who isn’t a center, is suddenly in the trade zone, you know, Billy would be in on that.
They want to make one big move. They are clearly trying on a deadline. It didn’t work. You know, Vincent Trocheck, obviously he wasn’t into that, but they tried to make it work. “
But, you know, I’m not trying to disturb Bill Guerin. “
Nick Kypreos: “Whether it’s Auston or Trocheck, who’s going to do it, his name will come up again in the offseason. Like, can they, can they even swallow the edge, or spend too much money on Quinn Hughes to get back?”
Russo: “That thing. Yeah. I mean, that’s it. And you know, like, that’s why I don’t like the (Marat) Khusnutdinov trade, because at least, you know, either Khusnutdinov or Ohgren in the, in the Quinn Hughes deal, and at least you’ll have one of them in this move.
So, you know now they’re putting themselves in a position where they’re going to have to sacrifice around (Jesper) Wallstedt, (Daniil) Yurov. Obviously, they have Charlie Stramel, other prospects as well.
But I don’t know if they have, like, I’d just like, if maybe Trocheck, they’d have a chance for it. But I have trouble buying that if Auston Matthews goes on the market, that the Wild will know, you know, unless Auston says, I’m only going to Minnesota, which, you know, I know Toronto fans don’t want to hear, you know, I just don’t see how, that the Wild have those assets.
NHL rumors: Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs
But, you know, look, I mean, Bill Guerin is motivated this summer to do something important. Obviously, he set the table for other things, and we will see if it happens. But I have my doubts, just about the number of prospects, not their desire, but just the prospects and the options and the trade assets they have right now to make those kind of big moves.
You know, I have no doubt that they are going hard after Robert Thomas. I know they went hard after Vincent Trocheck. So, we’ll see what they do this offseason. “
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