Dylan Larkin’s situation with the Detroit Red Wings has turned sharper in a hurry, and the latest reporting points to a standoff that is still very much alive.
According to Pierre LeBrun, there were conversations in the last 24 hours between Larkin’s camp and Detroit, including talks both last night and again this morning. LeBrun said the message from Larkin’s agents to the Red Wings was that Larkin feels he has given the team plenty of time since his trade request in May to get something done.
He has now reached his limit. As a result, the decision was made that he won’t play tonight or in the foreseeable future while waiting for a trade to come together.
LeBrun described the situation as fluid, with the Red Wings circling back to teams that have shown interest as negotiations intensify.
That leaves Detroit in a familiar position: if it’s going to move Larkin, the asking price still appears to be steep. Max Bultman addressed that point while discussing whether the Red Wings’ price has shifted. The club, he said, still needs a strong centerpiece in any return.
Bultman’s view was clear: the price should stay high, and Detroit shouldn’t talk itself into a deal just to make one. He said Larkin has handled his side properly by playing and honoring his contract, adding, “This has not gone the way the Hellebuyck thing has. I think that that matters in all of this.”
He also stressed that the Red Wings can’t simply accept a return they don’t believe in just because they want to “do right by Dylan.” For Bultman, the key issue is the headline piece, not the number of assets attached to it.
He noted that plenty of teams could assemble combinations involving first-round picks, prospects, or roster players, but the return still has to leave Detroit feeling good about the deal. If it’s only something like a player who will be a free agent in a year and another skater projecting as a middle-six piece, Bultman said he’d have trouble seeing the appeal.
Buffalo is one of the teams linked to the situation. Tim Daniels of Sabre Noise wrote that the Sabres have made runs at Colton Parayko, Robert Thomas, and Connor Hellebuyck over the past year, and that Larkin belongs on that list as well.
Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts, “Now we’ve got 10 and maybe another one or two. It’s been reported, and I think it’s true, that Buffalo has tried to get in there.”
Chad DeDominicis of Expected Buffalo had previously reported that the Sabres had talked with the Red Wings about Larkin, too.
If Buffalo does stay involved, it has pieces that could interest Detroit. The list includes defensive prospect Radim Mrtka, centers Josh Norris and Ryan McLeod, and the Sabres’ first-round pick.
The push for scoring remains a major theme for Buffalo, and adding a first-line center would sit near the top of GM Jarmo Kekalainen’s priority list.
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