Via the Hockey News’s Karine Hains, TSN’s Bryan Hayes has discussed a hypothetical trade in which Dylan Larkin heads to the Montreal Canadiens (sans any named return), and Hayes does what radio hosts typically do–he suggests that it’s Larkin who must “come around” to such a trade because it “makes sense.”
Hayes believes Larkin would be an ideal fit with the Canadiens #OverDrive pic.twitter.com/qwgJJelcXR
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 25, 2026
Hains surmises the following…
On Tuesday, TSN’s Bryan Hayes mentioned that the Montreal Canadiens would be an ideal fit for the disgruntled center. The 30-year-old pivot would certainly fit well in the Canadiens’ salary structure. He’s got four years to go on a contract that has an $8.7 million cap hit, and in the last five years he has put up 69, 79, 69, 70 and 67 points. He’s remarkably consistent, and there’s no doubt that he could help unlock Ivan Demidov’s potential.
At 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds, Larkin isn’t small and would help increase the Canadiens’ size, but he’s not overly physical on the ice. He’s only landed 46 hits this past season and 44 the year before.
As things stand, the Canadiens have $9.7 million in cap space, so they could take on Larkin’s contract, especially if unsigned RFAs Zach Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj were part of the package put together to acquire him.
Bolduc, a 23-year-old center who stands at 6′ and 187, posted 36 points and 30 points over the course of his 1st and 2nd full seasons in the NHL, and Arber Xhekaj is the infamous 25-year-old defenseman who scraps at a 6’4,” 240-pound weight class. Not exactly a superstar compensation package for Larkin.
Instead, the Red Wings might seek 20-year-old University of Michigan center Michael Hage, one of the Habs’ top prospects, as part of a compensation package. Hains doesn’t see that happening:
Acquiring Larkin would also mean that when Michael Hage makes the jump to the NHL, there would be a bit of congestion at center. While it wouldn’t hurt to have a veteran option when the youngster graduates, as he gets used to the NHL and craves a bigger role, Larkin’s presence could hinder his progress. Unless, of course, he was included in the package to acquire Larkin, but that would only be a very temporary fix for the Canadiens since the American is already 30. If it meant sacrificing Hage, the move wouldn’t make much sense in the long term.
The main issue, though, is that Larkin hasn’t included the Canadiens on his list, and if he were to do it, could they trust that he wouldn’t be right back in the same situation next season? Is Larkin after winning, or does he want to move while remaining in America? There’s a sizeable red flag there. There’s no doubt that before even entertaining the idea of acquiring him, Kent Hughes would have to use due diligence to get to the bottom of the story. Larkin might have watched the World Cup final with Cole Caufield, but that doesn’t mean he’d like to be his teammate.
The Red Wings aren’t going to take on a 3rd line center prospect in Bolduc and a defenseman so wild in terms of his physicality that the Canadiens employed Xhekaj as a #6/7 defenseman during the playoffs. Both players are “projects,” and they represent a set of “futures” that would require additional compensation (hello, 1st round picks) in order to make the trade work.
In other words?
It’s great that Bryan Hayes of TSN thinks that this trade “makes sense” for both teams. It might not compute in real life.
We shall see whether the Red Wings choose to settle for what’s available out there (if they were in “settle mode,” they probably would have already taken Danila Yurov, Charlie Stramel and a 1st round pick or two from the Minnesota Wild), and/or whether Larkin would have expanded his trade list.
