One team that has the pieces to tempt the Red Wings may not even be in Dylan Larkin’s preferred landing spots - and right now, Montreal’s need looks even sharper.
The Canadiens have long stood out as a plausible match for a Larkin deal. They have the kind of young veteran talent and prospects Detroit would want back, and they have the salary cap room to make something workable. But there’s one problem that hangs over everything: Larkin reportedly has a list of 10 teams he’d accept a trade to, and Montreal has not appeared on it.
Still, the fit is obvious enough that the conversation keeps lingering. The Canadiens already looked like a team that could use a center of Larkin’s caliber, and that case only gets stronger with Nick Suzuki sidelined for two to four weeks because of an upper-body injury. Suzuki appeared to get hurt Tuesday, Oct. 20, when he injured a hand while trying to block a shot.
Montreal’s start has been uneven, sitting at 4-3-2 after a ragged opening stretch, and the Suzuki absence comes with several players already scuffling. Even after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last season and with a chance to get back there this spring, the Canadiens suddenly have a hole right down the middle.
That is exactly why Larkin would make such a strong short-term fix. He’d be a major Band-Aid for a team trying to steady itself early in the season.
The appetite for that move was obvious when the Red Wings visited Montreal on Oct. 10. Canadiens fans chanted “we want Larkin” from the first period on, making their interest loud and clear.
“It was interesting,” Larkin said after the game. “I never would have imagined that in this building in my career, but they're passionate fans.”
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Edvinsson's situation is only part of the concern in Detroit, where trade discussions involving Dylan Larkin have also picked up in recent days. The combination puts the Red Wings in an awkward spot, with key pieces of the roster now tied to uncertainty at a time when the organization would rather be building momentum than answering questions about who might still be around when the dust settles. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Insider Just Added New Tension To The Dylan Larkin Standoff
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The part that will stick with Red Wings fans, though, is the unresolved Dylan Larkin situation. Devellano addressed the lingering trade-request storyline in the same conversation, and while the relationship appears to have been smoothed over on the surface, the larger question around Larkins status remains hanging over the roster picture. For a team trying to build around a core while adding the right pieces, any uncertainty involving its captain only adds another layer to an already delicate stage of the rebuild. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Suddenly Have A Goalie Question Fans Will Notice
A fresh wrinkle has turned up in the Red Wings goalie picture, with Grand Rapids netminder Postava joining Detroit on the clubs west coast trip. The move leaves the Griffins reshuffling in a hurry, where backup Jamie Phillips was signed to a professional tryout in the wake of Postavas departure, a sign that the organization needed another body ready to step in at the AHL level.
The reason for the call-up is still a little murky, which is part of what makes it worth watching as the trip unfolds. It is not yet clear whether Detroit is responding to an injury issue in its crease or simply rewarding Postava for how he has handled himself in Grand Rapids, but either way the Red Wings now have a goaltending situation that could change quickly depending on what happens next. [Read more 🡒]