The Carolina Hurricanes are being linked to two of Detroit’s biggest names, but pulling off a deal for both Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson sounds like a long shot.
NHL insider David Pagnotta said Carolina has interest in both players, while making it clear he would be stunned if the Hurricanes landed them together.
“I know they have interest in both Dylan Larkin and in Simon Edvinsson,” Pagnotta said on Everyday, in comments shared by NHL Rumour Report on X. “Whether they can make both of them happen, I’d be pretty surprised.”
Pagnotta has made the same point before, including on The Sheet last week, where he said Carolina has a habit of showing up whenever major names surface in the rumor mill. The Hurricanes were 8-2-1 and sitting atop the league in points, according to Daily Faceoff’s Wednesday report.
Larkin’s name has been out there for a while. He asked for a trade after last season and also lost the Red Wings captaincy before training camp. ESPN reported on Oct. 20 that his preferred landing spots had grown to 10 U.S. teams, with Carolina among them.
The center has put up five points in eight games and carries an $8.7 million cap hit through 2030-31. His full no-trade clause runs through 2027-28.
Edvinsson’s case is more complicated in a different way. The 23-year-old defenseman remains an unsigned restricted free agent, and Detroit has to get him under contract by Dec. 1 if he is going to be eligible to play in the NHL this season. Last year, he posted nine goals and 25 points in 72 games.
Detroit interim general manager Shawn Horcoff has been blunt about where he stands on Edvinsson.
“I have zero interest in trading Simon Edvinsson,” Horcoff said on Oct. 14, per the Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James. “I want to keep him.”
Pagnotta has said Edvinsson is seeking a seven-year deal at around $11 million per year, while Detroit has put forward a six-year offer worth about $8.5 million annually. Horcoff has also said the team remains open to both short- and long-term contracts.
On 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Detroit has been underwhelmed by the offers it has received for both Larkin and Edvinsson. Horcoff, meanwhile, has been asking other clubs about young centers and prospects as the centerpiece of any return.
Pagnotta also floated a possible structure involving Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin and Edvinsson on The Sheet, though he said he expected any agreement to be bigger than a simple one-for-one trade.
That idea has since been complicated by Nikishin’s new deal. Over the weekend, the Hurricanes announced that the unsigned restricted free agent, who had requested a trade, agreed to a one-year, $3 million contract.
Detroit still has until Dec. 1 to sign Edvinsson, but there is no sign that anything close is imminent involving either Red Wings player. Neither team has publicly addressed a package that would bring both to Carolina.
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