Interest in Dylan Larkin is there. The problem is everything else.
The Detroit Red Wings have already had trade conversations with four teams about their captain, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars. Those are also the only clubs Larkin is believed to be willing to waive his full trade protection for, which explains why the talks have centered on that group.
But a deal is nowhere near the finish line.
Detroit is looking for a first-line center in return, and none of those four teams has been willing to part with one. Each of the potential partners views itself as a playoff team, and in Minnesota’s case, there’s also the issue of not wanting to strip away useful pieces while the club is actively trying to get Quinn Hughes signed.
The other big obstacle is organizational uncertainty. The Red Wings still do not have a general manager in place, which means there isn’t even a final decision-maker on the Detroit side to push anything across the line.
What Detroit does seem clear about is the type of return it wants. The club is holding out for established players who can help right away, not a package built around picks or prospects.
Whether the next GM ends up being Steve Yzerman, Shawn Horcoff or someone else, the message from the Red Wings is that they do not want to start over. They’re not looking to send Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider a signal that the franchise is headed into a rebuild.
For now, the process is basically on pause. The four teams are there, the interest is there, but Detroit still needs someone in place to actually negotiate.
And once that happens, finding a return that works for both sides figures to take time. This could stretch into the season.
In fact, it likely will.
In Other News...
Red Wings Depth Plan Suddenly Puts Evgenii Dadonov In Focus
Evgenii Dadonov has emerged as one of the more interesting names in the Wings depth picture, with reports tying him to KHL interest from Traktor Chelyabinsk, Shanghai and Ak Bars Kazan. For now, though, the veteran winger is said to want to stay in North America, which keeps Detroits situation relatively straightforward even as overseas clubs continue to circle.
The KHL has been busy reshuffling rights around other familiar names, including goaltender Daniil Tarasov, whose return to that league now looks more complicated after his rights were moved to SKA St. Petersburg. Elsewhere, Canadiens prospects Vinzenz Rohrer and Alexander Gordin are on the move in Europe too, but for the Red Wings the immediate focus remains whether Dadonov stays put and how much of a factor he can be in the clubs depth plans. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Search Could Signal A Very Different Front Office
The Red Wings are moving into the interview phase for a new director of hockey operations, and the search already hints at a front office that could look quite different from the one that just closed the book on the Steve Yzerman era last month. Detroit is aiming to deepen the role of analytics in hockey operations, which makes this more than a routine replacement search and gives the next hire real influence over how the organization is shaped.
One name that has surfaced is Jeff Greenberg, who is currently with the Tigers, though he is not being presented as a clear favorite. What makes the process especially interesting is that Detroit is also considering whether to split the job into two posts, potentially adding both a president of hockey operations and a general manager, a structure that would signal a more layered decision-making setup than the club has used before. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Hold A Rebuild Advantage Few Teams Can Match
The Red Wings enter the next stretch of their rebuild with a kind of flexibility that can be hard to find this time of year. Detroit has about $19.5 million in salary cap space, and that room gives the front office options beyond just adding players. It also creates a chance to shape the roster in a more deliberate way as the team looks to keep building its asset base.
What makes that flexibility so interesting is how it can be used as a trade tool, not just a spending one. Detroit could take on an unfavorable contract from another club in exchange for assets, or retain salary in deals that bring back draft picks, giving the organization more ammunition for the next few seasons. The cap picture could become even more fluid if captain Dylan Larkin is moved, leaving the Wings with a rebuilding advantage that plenty of teams would love to have. [Read more 🡒]