By all indications, it appears as though the relationship between Dylan Larkin and the Detroit Red Wings could be coming to a close.
Last week, it was released by NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman that Larkin had requested to be moved from the Red Wings, who selected him with the 15th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft and later made him the 37th captain in team history in 2021.
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Whether or not Larkin’s trade request was meant to go public so quickly remains unknown, but once it leaked, there was no way it was staying under wraps.
Friedman, who initially reported Larkin’s trade request on Thursday afternoon, offered his latest speculation on the ongoing saga.
“I think people hoped that it would stay quiet, but it’s too big,” Friedman said. “Like, there was no way that was staying quiet. Pierre LeBrun reported the other day that the Red Wings have been given a small list of teams.”
As also reported by longtime beat writer Helene St. James of The Detroit Free Press, the alleged three teams that Larkin would accept a trade to include the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, and Vegas Golden Knights, a short list that would greatly complicate matters for GM Steve Yzerman.
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However, Friedman also speculated on the chances of the Dallas Stars or even the Anaheim Ducks potentially entering the fold.
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“I’ve heard Minnesota, I’ve heard Dallas,” Friedman said. “I have to believe the two Florida teams, and I’ve not heard Anaheim, but I’ve had people say to me, ‘Anaheim’s a team that could do it.”
“But I think he wants to go into a situation where they’re primed to win.”
Top Insider Links Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin To Multiple NHL Teams
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Larkin has multiple connections to players on his reported three-team trade list, and they’re all teammates from the gold medal-winning Team USA roster from the Milan Winter Olympics: Quinn Hughes and Matt Boldy (and GM Bill Guerin) of the Wild, Jack Eichel of the Golden Knights, and Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers.
But if Yzerman feels that he isn’t able to get an adequate trade package in return from one of the aforementioned teams, it could lead to an awkward and drawn-out situation with no specific timeline of being resolved.
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