Speaking of “outside noise,” I’ve tried to filter through some of the Dylan Larkin trade rumors and only give you the substantiated stuff this summer and early fall.

There was some hubbub in the Montreal media that Dylan Larkin should come to his senses and choose to join the Canadiens (not that the Canadiens should pitch for Larkin), there was some lamentful stuff from Philly about Larkin not including the Flyers on his trade list, and a lot of talk from Minnesota (a team that Larkin DOES have on his original trade list) that was just fluffy…

And I read that stuff so you don’t have to read it. This blog is about posting the newsworthy stuff and giving you a peek behind the paywall curtains, not posting every damn thing that’s said about the Red Wings (especially during the summer).

Talk for talk’s sake is just stuff, and I don’t like to post for the sake of page views or metrics or whatever–I post stuff that I genuinely find interesting, and hope that you find genuinely interesting.

Today, however, Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco wonders aloud whether the Philadelphia Flyers, who were very interested in now-Toronto Maple Leaf Kirill Marchenko, should pivot and see if Larkin is available, and we’re going to examine what Di Marco has to say:

Another player the Flyers have circled on is Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin, who recently expanded his trade list to eight teams. According to team sources, the Flyers are still not on Larkin’s expanded list of teams he would accept a trade to; that being said, they are still keeping tabs.

While the Flyers prefer Marchenko as a player, Larkin fills “more of a need” positionally for the Flyers as a center, DFO was told. Even though Larkin is already 30 years old, he is a top-30 centerman in the league and is on a really good value contract ($8.7-million AAV until 2031), especially with a skyrocketing salary cap. 

According to sources, the Flyers would be willing to pay a similar package of three assets in a deal to acquire the former-Red Wings captain. Whether that is enough for Larkin remains to be seen, as interim GM Shawn Horcoff has his hands full jumping on a derailed train at hyper speed. According to one source, there is a belief that Horcoff could be looking to fix the relationship with Larkin, which could result in this saga dragging out longer than expected. 

There is also the question as to what the Red Wings want in return for Larkin. Should Horcoff be looking for more of a “hockey trade” like we saw Columbus make with Marchenko, the Flyers’ ideal package of three assets may not get it done. The best comparable players to Knies that the Flyers have are wings Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett, who are under contract until 2035 and 2032, respectively. But with both players being significantly younger than Larkin, there isn’t a sense that the Flyers would want to move either of Foerster or Tippett. 

The Flyers don’t feel like they’d have to move a center to make room for Larkin in light of a potential trade, as Trevor Zegras or Cates (if he isn’t included in a package) could simply shift to the wing, per sources. But of course, this is all a moot point as long as the Flyers remain off of Larkin’s list, though they will continue to monitor it closely. 

Continued; just because Larkin has certain teams on his trade list (Elliotte Friedman had Larkin up to 8 teams, including Minnesota, Vegas, Florida, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Washington, Colorado, and a mystery team) doesn’t mean that other teams aren’t interested.

It just means that Larkin is in control of where he wants to go, and that, if another team offers a deal to the Red Wings, Larkin has the ultimate say.