Let’s not even waste time with a cute intro. You want to know about Dylan Larkin after his request to be traded by the Detroit Red Wings broke on Thursday, so here we go for Part 1 of our Minnesota Wild mailbag:(Note: Some questions are edited lightly for length and clarity.)Dylan Larkin just asked for a trade out of Detroit. Chances the Wild can grab him? — Lee A.Russo: Poor Joe Smith perused hundreds of questions without any of my help, but after Larkin’s trade request broke, I went back into the mailbag and plucked a couple of the dozen Larkin questions that followed. First, I wonder if “Lee A.” is really Anders Lee’s pseudonym and he wants to sign here now that The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported he’s going to market? Hmmm.If you’ve read and listened to us for a year, we’ve often discussed that if Larkin ever wanted out, the Wild would be ready to pounce. This is also why Guerin didn’t want to give up a haul for Vincent Trocheck at the trade deadline, just in case somebody like Larkin, Auston Matthews, Robert Thomas, Nico Hischier or even a winger like Brady Tkachuk could be had. I can promise you that Wings GM Steve Yzerman is not happy this got out, and Yzerman has shown in the past that he doesn’t always immediately abide by trade requests (see Jonathan Drouin in with the Tampa Bay Lightning). Still, this is Detroit’s captain, so it’d be awfully hard to keep Larkin and let him retain the “C.”Larkin controls this process with his no-trade, which could be good for the Wild because they don’t have a ton of assets left after trading for Larkin’s good friend, Quinn Hughes. The match is perfect: The Wild need a No. 1 center. Wild GM Bill Guerin and coach John Hynes adore Larkin and his 200-foot game and compete level. It’s close to home. He’s buddies with Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber. And he’s represented by Hughes’ agent, Pat Brisson. However, a lot of teams will pursue Larkin (the Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Seattle Kraken, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets with his best bud Zach Werenski, etc.).The Hughes links help, but to be blunt, Larkin has friends everywhere. We’ll see where this goes, but without a shadow of a doubt, the Wild will be heavily in the mix and probably called already.Do you buy that Larkin wants out of Detroit? — Johnny K. Russo: Yes. Larkin turns 30 this summer, careers aren’t infinite, and he hasn’t played in the playoffs since his rookie season 10 years ago. He got a taste of victory by winning gold at the Olympics, and I’ve said for months that I think lots of players are going to start using Hughes’ decision to tell the Vancouver Canucks two years ahead of time that he didn’t plan to extend as a template.Now, this is different; Larkin has actually requested a trade, but it’s semantics. I bet this becomes a bit more normal in the NHL. In fact, I bet you Brady Tkachuk is next. I don’t buy for one second that he plans to extend with the Ottawa Senators after next summer.What would the Wild have to give up to get Dylan Larkin? — Jake C.Russo: This is the $8.7 million question for a stud center with five years left on his contract. The Wild don’t have a ton of attention-grabbing assets left after dealing Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round pick for Hughes. Obviously, Guerin wouldn’t be afraid to trade future firsts in this deal, nor young center Danila Yurov or prospects Charlie Stramel, Hunter Haight or Adam Benak.The big question is whether the Wild would have to give up quality NHLers in the deal, whether that’s one of their goalies (maybe even swapping Jesper Wallstedt for one of Detroit’s younger goalies), a defenseman like Jonas Brodin, center Joel Eriksson Ek or a versatile, gritty forward like Ryan Hartman (which Detroit needs, in my always humble opinion).How did the Wild whiff so bad on David Jiricek? Hard to believe the Wild would give up so much value on a trade that ultimately had to be flushed. — Wes S.Smith: For all of Guerin’s slick trades — Faber, Filip Gustavsson, Hughes — this is truly the biggest head-scratcher. The Wild gave up a haul for Jiricek, the former No. 6 pick, sending first-, second-, third- and fourth-rounders to Columbus along with Daemon Hunt in November of 2024.I get the idea behind it, with Jiricek’s size (6-foot-4, 204 pounds) and offensive ability, plus the Wild’s lack of touted right-shot defense prospects coming in the pipeline. Perhaps Minnesota thought he could be an eventual Jared Spurgeon replacement, but Jiricek struggled with inconsistency in his short tenure with the Wild. He’d show flashes of why he was picked so high, then make a mental mistake (penalty, turnover, bad positioning) that would be costly.Everyone with the Wild, including AHL Iowa coach Greg Cronin and director of player development Brad Bombardir, insisted he just needed more time and seasoning, but they weren’t able to wait it out and flipped him to Philadelphia for Bobby Brink.Coaches rave about Jiricek’s attitude, but it’s got to be hard for two different organizations to give up on you before you turn 23. While he may still end up a solid player, the worst part of this for me, evaluation-wise, was that they didn’t realize the prospect they traded in the deal (Hunt) was already better than Jiricek. They were fortunate to get Hunt back on waivers. He can be part of their blue line going forward.Guerin recently said that having another Eriksson Ek-type center would put the Wild in a really good place at that position. Who would be an Eriksson Ek comparable that would be gettable? — Kevin K.Russo: Well, assuming they can’t get Larkin, if Hischier doesn’t extend in New Jersey, I’d go after the Devils’ captain in a heartbeat.Why don’t the other teams just simply give us their best players? — Philip R.Smith: That would just make it so much easier, right?Yurov, Brodin, a 2027 first and a 2028 first to the New York Islanders for Mat Barzal. Who says no? — Tom S.Russo: Probably the Islanders. I believe the Wild called on Barzal last offseason, but while we know the Islanders are getting calls on him, there is no evidence to suggest they want to trade him — yet.We all saw Hartman successfully move from wing to center a few seasons ago. Are the Wild making a mistake by not having a conversation with Boldy about at least a trial run at center at the start of next season? — Bob P.Russo: He’s a potential 50-50 guy at wing. No team would take a superstar and move him to center at 25 years old. As Hynes said at his end-of-season presser, the responsibilities of playing center would take away from a lot of the things he excels at.Hartman played center a ton in his career. They didn’t “move” him to the wing. And Hartman, with all due respect, is not Boldy.Just because Boldy takes the occasional faceoff doesn’t mean he can be a full-time center. Lots of wingers over the years take draws. I tend to agree with Guerin and Hynes when they said he’s capable in “short spurts,” but that he’s not a natural center full-time.Would there be any value in buying out Jared Spurgeon? What is Gus’s trade value? Is Samuel Hlavaj ready to be a No. 2 goalie? Or does he have trade value? — Stephen C.Russo: Why would they buy out Spurgeon, who had a terrific regular season and first-round series against Dallas, when they don’t have another right-shot defenseman capable of playing on the second pair?As for Gustavsson, I think it’ll be hard to trade him (no-move or not) coming off hip surgery until he shows he’s healthy and back to normal. And I doubt we’ll see Hlavaj again in an Iowa or Minnesota Wild uniform, and there was no trade interest at the deadline.Would the Wild ever consider taking a swing on a player like Elias Pettersson if Vancouver retained a good chunk of his salary? — Gavin P.Smith: An interesting name drop there, especially as Bruce Boudreau told me on my “Fellowship of the Rink” podcast that he feels Pettersson would be a good fit for Minnesota in their search for a No. 1 center.Boudreau coached the Swede in Vancouver and feels, in the right environment, he could get back to his game-breaking ways. Still, Pettersson hasn’t been the same player the past couple of years. I don’t believe the Wild are interested at this point, and, quite frankly, you have to consider the dynamic with Hughes as well, as the former Canucks captain asked out of that environment not too long ago.What options do the Wild have with Gus? Can Guerin tell him to waive his no-trade or be a well-paid backup? — Nathan B.Smith: Well, the Wild have to get Gustavsson healthy and back playing well first, as he’s rehabbing from offseason hip surgery. It’s highly unlikely he’s a trade candidate over the summer while he’s hurt. Gustavsson also has a full no-move clause, so he’ll have some control in thisIt could very well be the same tandem of Wallstedt-Gustavsson in net like it was this past season — and that worked.If the Wild do get an offer, Gustavsson sounded like he’s at least open to hearing things out, assuming it’s an opportunity to start.Who is more likely to be traded: Hartman or Yurov? — Jaden K.Russo: If Guerin can get that big fish center this summer, I’d say it’s Yurov. He’s the type of prospect that may grab other teams’ attention, plus if the player coming back was a center, it’d be the same rationale as trading Buium for Hughes. Hughes is Hughes now, while Buium maybe one day become Hughes.The Wild are in win-now mode, so if they can get a No. 1 center in a package that includes Yurov, it makes sense, because Yurov isn’t a finished product and maybe one day will become a top-six center, but not in the Wild’s win-now window.Are there veteran players like Lee that you could see signing discounted deals with Minnesota for a chance at a run? — Michael J.Smith: Lee is an interesting one, with the 35-year-old Islanders captain still up in the air about whether he’s staying on Long Island. The free-agent class isn’t a great one, which is why the Wild are more likely to go the trade route.The good news is that Minnesota is becoming more of a destination for players around the NHL, having superstars like Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov and Boldy. There’s a sense they can win here now. For argument’s sake, let’s say Patrick Kane doesn’t return to Detroit (imagine the Larkin saga won’t help there), maybe he considers a team like the Wild to chase another Cup.Russo: I’d go after Brent Burns.Anyone you could see the Wild trying to offer sheet this summer? — Scott U .Russo: They don’t currently own their first- or second-round pick to give as compensation, so doubtful.Is it just a coincidence that most of the big fish that Guerin has been tied to potentially trading for are American? Matthews, Hughes, Tkachuk, Trocheck. Not to say that they all are, but do you think that just has to do with familiarity due to being the U.S. GM? — Steve A.Russo: You asked this before Larkin. My answer is yes, especially because they went after Robert Thomas, too. Still, it’s just a coincidence that right now those names you mentioned are the ones whose contracts are close to expiring and could be on the move.