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MN Wild PoHO Using Olympics to Wheel and Deal
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- MN Wild PoHO Using Olympics to Wheel and Deal
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Wild (@mnwild - X)
The Minnesota Wild trade rumors have taken a backseat in recent days. That will happen when your president of hockey operations, head coach and 10 players from across their organization head to Italy for the Winter Olympics.
Believe it or not, 23-year-old defenseman Brock Faber is playing in his second Olympic games. Meanwhile, his teammates Matt Boldy ( 24 ) and Quinn Hughes ( 26 ) are both making their Olympic debuts.
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Like Faber, though, both Hughes and Boldy are veterans when it comes to international competition . All three have multiple World Cup appearances on their hockey resumes , along with three years of USA juniors experience from age 17 to 20.
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But when Team USA had picture day out in Italy earlier this week, players were split up to take photos with their NHL teammates. That's when Rangers ' center Vincent Trocheck jokingly tried to get in on the Minnesota Wild's team photo, which featured Guerin, Hynes and the three aforementioned player reps.
USA team photo just took place, then NHL team specific photos, college teammate photos, USTDP program photo, Tkachuk/Hughes Bros. photo, etc.
Hilariously, Trocheck jokingly acted as if he was going to join the #mnwild player and staff photo 😂— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 9, 2026
It was a lighthearted moment that was worth a good laugh, at the time. But Trocheck was playing into trade rumors that are very real . The 32-year-old centerman knows he's on the trade block. Hell, his front office announced it to the NHL world.
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Whether it's for Trocheck, or Blues ' center Robert Thomas, or Calgary center Nazem Kadri … or any other forward the Minnesota Wild have been linked to recently, something is coming between February 22, when the NHL season officially resumes, and the NHL trade deadline on March 6.
Bill Guerin has nothing but time to chat with other GMs at Olympics
And according to Michael Russo (The Athletic) , we won't have to wait long after the Olympic break for trades to start rolling in, since many of them will likely be worked out in Milan over the next 2.5 weeks.
That's because 10 of 32 NHL general managers are at the Olympics working with Team USA and Team Canada, alone. And while they are all hanging out in Italy together, they have pretty much nothing to do between watching their respective countries compete for a Gold Medal.
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On KFAN radio Tuesday , Russo made no bones about it. While trades cannot become official until the league year resumes on Feb. 22, deals are getting done overseas right now, both in-person and over the phone.
"There are ten NHL gms here, between Canada and the US. These GMs really have nothing to do while they're here, other than be here. So you might as well talk shop. Chris Drury is on the United States' staff, right, so you think that, at some point, Bill Guerin isn't going to talk to Chris Drury about Vincent Trocheck?"
"There's no doubt that when the trade freeze ends on February twenty second, around midnight, that there's going to be a flurry of trades, probably right away in the NHL, with the trade deadline right around the corner. And it wouldn't shock me if Billy does have serious conversations while over here, both in person and by phone with people that not here, and tries to get a jump on some of the moves out there."
And if we know anything about Bill Guerin and his current state of mind and the Wild's need for a top-line forward — hands are not being shaken overseas in Italy this month without him being the catalyst of it all.
To prove his point, Russo told a story about the first night after Billy G. and his GM buddies arrived in Milan, which happened to be the same day a couple of the women's hockey teams were dealing with a norovirus outbreak in Athletes Village.
Could news of Minnesota Wild trade break early?
In an attempt to scoop a possible change in housing for the men's team, Michael sent Guerin and Blues GM Doug Armstrong the same text message, asking whether or not Team USA might move their players from Athletes Village to a private hotel.
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Unfortunately for our favorite bulldog reporter, the two executives received his message simultaneously… while sitting next to each other in the same hotel room.
"The first night that we were all that I first night that Billy was in town…I sent Billy Guerin a text message just asking, 'Hey, with with norovirus going on in the village, is there a chance that you pull your guys out and put them in a hotel?' At the same time, I sent St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong the same exact text.
Billy replies with a picture of Doug Armstrong and Doug Armstrong replies with a picture of Bill Guerin. So I sent them each a text while they were both together. So right away, I'm mortified that they knew I sent them the exact thing text at the same time. But I tried to soften it up by asking both of them, 'have you guys traded Robert Thomas to Minnesota yet?' So, there's a good example."
Here's where my head goes next. We know that trades cannot be made official until the NHL season resumes on February 22. But after hearing Russo on KFAN, it sounds like deals will get done long before then, meaning unofficial deals could be reported on while the Olympic tournament is still in progress.
Related: NJ Devils Edit MN Wild Star Out of Olympic Photo
Of course, that depends on a few factors. For example, would Guerin and his buddies be able to keep their mouths shut after pulling off a handshake blockbuster? And would the league be able to embargo reporters like Russo from leaking details early? I guess we will soon find out…
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