Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson fires up his “BS Meter” this morning, determining whether the hype regarding 5 significant offseason storylines matches the importance of each individual story. One of his significant stories is the Dylan Larkin situation:
Have the Detroit Red Wings Set Too High a Price for Dylan Larkin?
On June 5, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin had requested a trade. Two days later, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reported the 29-year-old center listed the Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers as his preferred destinations.
MLive.com’s Ansar Khan reported on July 9 that Larkin had expanded his list to include the Dallas Stars. However, it doesn’t appear the Red Wings are close to moving the two-way center.
The Panthers already made their big move by acquiring winger Brady Tkachuk last month, while the Golden Knights lack the cap space and tradeable assets to acquire Larkin. That leaves the Wild and Stars as possible destinations, but the Wings’ asking prices thus far have been too high.
On July 5, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos claimed the Red Wings would trade Larkin to the Wild if they could get first-line winger Matt Boldy in return. As for the Stars, Khan reported the Stars offered up winger Jason Robertson, but the Wings wanted center Wyatt Johnston.
BS Meter: Not BS
Larkin is under contract through 2030-31, so Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is in no hurry to move him. While there could be pressure to trade Larkin before training camp, Yzerman still has two months to sort that out. In the meantime, he’s made it clear that he wants a comparable player in return for Larkin.
Which is fair. Larkin may not be a #1A center in the NHL at present, but he’s still a 30-goal-scorer who’s in his prime at 29, he’s speedy, he drives play…
And his $8.7 million cap hit for the next 5 seasons was heavily front-loaded, so he’s receiving $8 million for the next 3 seasons, $7.6 million in season 7, and only $7 million in real-world cash in year 8.
