Evening thoughts: On Dylan Larkin, Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings’ goaltending situation

Updated 2x at 9:55 PM: On the eve of the NHL Draft’s two-day extravaganza of prospects, trades and endless waiting for the first round to get over and done with, Daily Faceoff offered some Dylan Larkin “intel” from The Fourth Period’s wise and wily David Pagnotta, who reports that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman wants to get the Larkin situation finished by the end of the draft weekend, if not by free agency…

Though we all know the man who has a “disgruntled” player (Pagnotta’s smartly-chosen descriptor) won’t give in until he’s satisfied with the return may very well let things play out for the balance of the summer if he can’t get the return he wants for the Wings’ number one center (that would be Andrew Copp, now, right?)

Anyway, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and John Buccigross offered a humorous take on the situation from Buffalo, where the draft is being held…

And Shap Shots/EliteProspects/DLLS Stars’ Sean Shapiro, ever the renaissance man, posted a “From DTW” blog post on his Substack, issuing this bit of wisdom regarding the Larkin situation (you should subscribe to his Substack, it’s more than worth $7 a month!):

At this moment, I don’t get the feeling that there is a natural one-for-one trade between the Stars and Detroit Red Wings for Dylan Larkin and [Stars restricted free agent winger Jason] Robertson. While I’m not ruling it out completely, it’s a transaction that likely would have to include a third-team and some creativity, most likely with Robertson ending up in that third market, potentially somewhere like the Seattle Kraken, who have shown interest.

Steve Yzerman keeps things very close to the vest, apparently he was pretty ticked off that the Larkin trade request was even made public, and from speaking to some people familiar with the situation, I get the feeling that Yzerman isn’t interested in a $14 or $15 million winger.

Yes, we know from hearsay and a lot of smart people who don’t need to call themselves “insiders” that Dallas is likely one of Larkin’s preferred destinations, along with Vegas, Florida (hey, it could happen, you never know with Bill Zito) and Minnesota…

And no, I don’t think that the Wings would be able to pry Robertson from Dallas for Larkin straight-up, Dallas’ cap issues included…

But the bottom line is that I cannot imagine anything pissing off GM SY and the Red Wings’ management team than all of this becoming public knowledge.

I compare the Red Wings’ front office to a nuclear submarine because it has no leaks in a league where every other front office has little bubbles of hot air and rumors that percolate the sea of news.

The Red Wings don’t want jack shit to get out, and if Yzerman was pissed off enough at Larkin for asking “out” after 11 years, I can imagine the news getting out yielding a Mike Babcock-esque death stare.

Sean also confirms another secret that somehow got out, mostly through the Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson, and Sebastian Cossa’s agent:

This isn’t news, it’s been a pretty poorly kept secret, but Sebastian Cossa’s name came up again today when I was speaking to an NHL goalie coach, there’s a lot of interest in what decision the Red Wings make with the prospect and many in the goalie world expect him to be moved rather soon.

Cossa is 23 going on 24 this November, he loses his waiver-exempt status this fall, and between the Griffins’ decision to go with Michal Postava in the AHL playoffs, combined with Cossa’s two spring struggles (just like the Red Wings, Cossa has struggled in the second halves of his last two seasons with the Griffins), combined with the emergence of Postava and the signing of Trey Augustine = too many cooks in the kitchen.

So Cossa’s agent has been making noises about his client expecting to play in the NHL this upcoming season.

As Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen noted this afternoon, the questions about the Wings’ goaltending crease involve whether the team will bring Postava up as a full-time back-up at the NHL level, whether Postava may be a 3rd goaltender for a bit, or whether the Wings will bring in an AHL veteran to mentor Trey Augustine as he becomes the Griffins’ probable starting goaltender.

Postava, 24, has given the Red Wings reason to believe he is ready for the NHL. He outplayed Cossa by posting a 17-6 record with a 1.76 GAA and .937 save percentage. He surrendered more than three goals in a game only once in 33 regular season and playoff games.

The only concern about Postava is that this past season was his in North America. Is that enough for GM Steve Yzerman who values AHL experience? Postava did win a Czech championship two seasons ago.

Yzerman’s other option would be to sign an NHL veteran to pair with Gibson and let Postava have more time in Grand Rapids.

The Red Wings have been linked to a trade for Connor Hellebuyck. But that is not going to happen. He is more likely to end up in New Jersey or a prime contender.

The unrestricted goalies the Red Wings may consider would include Stuart Skinner, Daniil Tarasov, Connor Ingram, Vitek Vanecek and James Reimer among others.

Because this year’s free agent marketplace is only really deep in the back-up goaltenders’ department, I can very easily imagine the Red Wings signing someone with both NHL and AHL experience to serve as a buffer for Augustine and Postava, much like the right-catching Michael Hutchinson did a couple of seasons ago.

Hutchinson was both a mentor to Cossa and just enough of a veteran to push Cossa to succeed at the AHL level; signing a goalie with a little more of an NHL pedigree would encourage both said veteran and Postava to compete to be the #2 goaltender to John Gibson’s #1.

Anyway, those are my thoughts just before Aunt Annie’s dinner time on a Thursday night. I hope you are doing well and I hope you don’t mind that I restarted the blog a little early.

Update: While Shaprio’s shuffling off to Buffalo…

Per Friedman in text form:

According to multiple sources, the Seattle Kraken were given permission by Dallas to talk to Jason Robertson, and offered him approximately $15 million per year on a eight-year deal — but the offer was declined. 

Neither the Stars nor the Kraken agreed to comment, nor did Robertson’s representative, Andy Scott.

It’s believed the two teams had worked out some kind of trade before the permission was granted, apparently including Seattle’s first-round pick — seventh overall in Friday’s draft. 

It’s hard to say what’s next for the Stars and their 40-goal winger, who are believed to be at least $2 million apart per season. Their top contract is Mikko Rantanen at $12 million per year, and the hope was Robertson would come somewhere around that number. 

Robertson is a restricted free agent as of July 1.

Thank Gord it’s them and not us having to consider losing a RFA of Robertson’s caliber for nothing but draft picks.

Update #2: Timing is everything. The Detroit News’s “Octopulse” podcast is already out of date:

“He (Robertson) isn’t a great skater but he has that Alex DeBrincat knack for scoring goals,” Red Wings beat reporter Ted Kulfan said on The Detroit News’ OctoPulse podcast. “He also plays with better talent and that always scares me when a guy like that comes to a lesser team. Sometimes that doesn’t work out too well.

“I don’t know if that’s an exact fit. I think Dallas might want a little more than Dylan Larkin from what I’ve heard. Would Robertson be thrilled about coming to Detroit? I don’t see Steve Yzerman paying $13 or $14 million dollars a year to a player. That seems a little far-fetched right now.”

Today’s podcast, episode 147, also includes Tony Paul’s interview with Hilary Knight, who signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday afternoon with Detroit’s PWHL expansion team.

It’s not gonna happen.

But the Hilary Knight stuff is awesome news for all of Detroit sports.

One more thought: If the Stars can work out a sign-and-trade for Robertson, they’ll get a bigger return than Larkin is worth, but if they can’t…He’s a July 1st offer sheet candidate.

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *