The Minnesota Wild aren't pursuing a trade for star winger Artemi Panarin, squashing recent rumors and trade speculation.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Despite a report from suggesting the Minnesota Wild are interested in New York Rangers' star winger Artemi Panarin, that appears to be not true.
On Thursday at 4:30 Minnesota time, a report from Kevin Weekes suggested the Wild were one of 13 different teams to have "expressed interest" in Panarin.
Panarin carries an $11.6-million cap hit this season, and even if New York retains half, the cost would still be far too high for Minnesota to be in the mix.
Right before the Wild's game against the Calgary Flames, Michael Russo kind of squashed that report on KFAN Radio about the Wild and Panarin.
Panarin's agent is Paul Theofanous, who is Kirill Kaprizov's agent. He is the driving factor for the expected trade. The more teams that are "interested" in Panarin, the more the price to acquire him and extend him will rise.
On 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman also shut down the Minnesota is interested rumor.
"You know, Minnesota. Again, I don't know how you can pay Kaprizov and Panarin," Friedman said on 32 Thoughts. "And let's say you want to extend Quinn Hughes. I am just not sure how you do that."
That being said, the Wild are likely interested in someone else on the Rangers.
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