It’s safe to assume Dylan Larkin wouldn’t mind a trade to the Vegas Golden Knights. What say you, Jack Eichel?
“I’ll say this: If you ask guys in the league, Vegas ain’t on people’s no-trade lists,” Eichel said on June 16.
No, he wasn’t referencing Larkin at the time. But the logic applies here.
The Detroit Red Wings might be opposed to sending Larkin to the Knights.
It has nothing to do with the Knights or doing business with general manager Kelly McCrimmon. The two sides just worked together on a deal to send fourth-line forward Keegan Kolesar to Detroit on Wednesday.
But it comes down to what the Knights currently have. With what the Red Wings are looking for, the Knights don’t have much to give.
Larkin, the Red Wings captain, has requested a trade and could be moved out of Detroit at some point.
“Shortly after the season, I received a phone call from Dylan Larkin’s agent (Pat Brisson), informing me that Dylan would like to be traded,” Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said on June 27. “A week or so after that, Dylan’s agent followed up with a short list of teams that Dylan would consider waiving his no-trade (clause) to go to.”
No guarantee
Larkin, 29, has been a constant in Detroit since he was drafted 15th overall in 2014.
He has 643 points in 808 career games. His 276 goals are top-30 in the NHL since entering the league. He’s been productive. He’s been durable. He’s been valuable.
He’s also carrying five years left on his contract with a cap hit of $8.7 million per season.
Yzerman isn’t going to make a trade for the sake of making a trade. One with as much term left as Larkin has won’t just take future assets alone. There needs to be hockey incentive behind it.
“My job as the manager of the Detroit Red Wings is always to do what is in the best interest of the Detroit Red Wings, and I will act accordingly to that,” Yzerman said. “I cannot make any guarantees, or did not make any guarantees, that that request could or would be met.”
There are three teams that Larkin, reportedly, would like to be traded to — the Knights, the Florida Panthers or Minnesota Wild.
Even though the Red Wings have missed the playoffs 11 straight years, it’s got to be a trade that will benefit the core Detroit has in place.
A trade of this magnitude would sharpen the microscope on Yzerman more than it already has. He can’t be backdoored — even on a limited trade list — on a trade that can’t be beneficial to him.
What can the Knights do?
The Knights are going to be linked to every trade involving any star name. It’s just how it is. They were reportedly linked in the Brady Tkachuk trade rumors before he was moved to the Panthers.
The Knights have recouped draft assets over the past week. They now have two first-round picks in 2028 — unless the New York Rangers’ pick lands in the top-10 this year, then it converts to 2029.
An asset deal won’t cut it this time. Not like the Knights did with Noah Hanifin, Tomas Hertl, Rasmus Andersson, and others.
The Knights aren’t going to gut their roster to add a center when there are other needs they could address. They would need to move a center out in order to bring another one in.
William Karlsson is in the final year of his eight-year contract. Self-explanatory: He’s not going anywhere. Eichel? Enough said.
Nic Dowd is valuable in his role with the Knights. He’s not valuable at 36 years old to be a centerpiece for a Larkin trade.
That leaves Hertl, but he only has three teams that he would approve a trade to.
It’s unclear who those teams are, but Hertl likes warm weather and a lot of sun. No disrespect to Detroit, but the city doesn’t fit those parameters.
There have been times where teams have been worn down and have given in. Claude Giroux’s trade to the Panthers in 2022 comes to mind. The Tkachuk trade can be argued as another example.
It happens all the time. It could happen again. The Knights could very much find their way to the front of the line again.
Right now, it doesn’t seem likely.
“With everything we had going on, I didn’t think (free agency) was something we were going to be really involved in,” McCrimmon said. “Over the course of the offseason, we’re going to stay plugged in with what’s going on in the league.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
