MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Dylan Larkin has added one team to his trade-to list:
Dylan Larkin has expanded his list of teams he will waive his no-trade clause to join, but it’s not by much and it’s probably not going to get him any closer to being dealt by Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman.
Larkin recently added the Dallas Stars to his original list that included only Florida, Minnesota and Vegas.
The Red Wings had talks with the Stars and according to a league source asked for young center Wyatt Johnston in return. It doesn’t hurt to ask, but there was no chance of that happening. Johnston is seven years younger than Larkin, coming off a 45-goal, 86-point season, and hasn’t missed a game in four NHL seasons (incidentally, the Stars selected Johnston 23rd overall in 2021, after trading down from No. 15 with the Red Wings, who took Sebastian Cossa).
The Stars offered Jason Robertson, but there are a couple of hurdles to that potential deal.
For starters, Robertson, a restricted free agent who filed for arbitration, would have to agree to a long-term deal with the Red Wings. Despite his fringe ties to metro Detroit, there is no reason to believe he would do that.
Robertson turned down $15 million a season from Seattle in a proposed trade for futures. The Red Wings aren’t eager to pay him that much even if he wanted to come here. Even with the salary cap increasing, they’d be tying up a large chunk of it to a winger without solving their top-line center dilemma.
Yzerman wants NHL-ready players for Larkin. He’s not interested in draft picks and prospects and going into another rebuild – unless he can immediately turn those assets into players that can help the team right away.
Continued (paywall); Khan also adds this:
Larkin is locked up for five more years at an $8.7 million average annual value ($38.6 million or $7.72 million per season in actual salary because the deal was front-loaded). That will continue to look like a bargain for a player coming off five consecutive 30-goal seasons the way contracts are escalating (Leo Carlsson set the new standard by signing a five-year, $90 million offer sheet — $18 million AAV – with the Flyers).
That can only increase Larkin’s trade value – or value to the Red Wings if he’s somehow not dealt.
Khan also suggests that the Red Wings have probably exhausted their options in trade negotiations with Florida, Vegas and Minnesota, but I don’t believe that. There’s always “wiggle room.”
