With just a few days left in August, Dylan Larkin, who put in a trade request to the Detroit Red Wings in June, is still a member of the Wings. The Detroit outfit has had a tumultuous summer, including legendary center Steve Yzerman stepping away from the GM role, and the team still hasn’t filled the vacancy. It certainly didn’t help that Larkin gave a list of only four teams he would be willing to be traded to: the Florida Panthers, the Minnesota Wild, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Dallas Stars.
On Tuesday, TSN’s Bryan Hayes mentioned that the Montreal Canadiens would be an ideal fit for the disgruntled center. The 30-year-old pivot would certainly fit well in the Canadiens’ salary structure. He’s got four years to go on a contract that has an $8.7 million cap hit, and in the last five years he has put up 69, 79, 69, 70 and 67 points. He’s remarkably consistent, and there’s no doubt that he could help unlock Ivan Demidov‘s potential.
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At 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds, Larkin isn’t small and would help increase the Canadiens’ size, but he’s not overly physical on the ice. He’s only landed 46 hits this past season and 44 the year before.
As things stand, the Canadiens have $9.7 million in cap space, so they could take on Larkin’s contract, especially if unsigned RFAs Zach Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj were part of the package put together to acquire him.
On paper, Larkin is better than the players the Canadiens currently have available to play with Demidov, but his style of play wouldn’t help correct what the Habs were missing in the playoffs. Furthermore, despite playing 11 NHL seasons, the centerman played only five playoff games, all in his rookie season. Back then, the Wings were bounced in the first round in five games by the Tampa Bay Lightning, meaning that he certainly wouldn’t bring much experience to the table on that front.
Acquiring Larkin would also mean that when Michael Hage makes the jump to the NHL, there would be a bit of congestion at center. While it wouldn’t hurt to have a veteran option when the youngster graduates, as he gets used to the NHL and craves a bigger role, Larkin’s presence could hinder his progress. Unless, of course, he was included in the package to acquire Larkin, but that would only be a very temporary fix for the Canadiens since the American is already 30. If it meant sacrificing Hage, the move wouldn’t make much sense in the long term.
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The main issue, though, is that Larkin hasn’t included the Canadiens on his list, and if he were to do it, could they trust that he wouldn’t be right back in the same situation next season? Is Larkin after winning, or does he want to move while remaining in America? There’s a sizeable red flag there. There’s no doubt that before even entertaining the idea of acquiring him, Kent Hughes would have to use due diligence to get to the bottom of the story. Larkin might have watched the World Cup final with Cole Caufield, but that doesn’t mean he’d like to be his teammate.
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