Dylan Larkin’s trade list is getting longer, but Montreal still isn’t on it.
The Red Wings forward has gone from three teams to six to now ten, and the latest group still leaves out the Canadiens. His list now includes the Panthers, Wild, Golden Knights, Stars, Caps, Hurricanes, Mammoth, Lightning, Devils and Avalanche. Canadiens fans apparently made their pitch when Detroit came to town, but it didn’t move the needle.
Marco D’Amico noted that if Larkin eventually winds up in Montreal only because he was backed into a corner, that wouldn’t sit well with fans. The feeling in Montreal is simple enough: they want a player who genuinely wants to be there.
Elsewhere, Mike Babcock kept his cool after the Oilers were hammered 7-2 by the Maple Leafs. He said Toronto played “harder, longer, faster” and was better in every area.
Babcock also said that effort like that on a Saturday night in your own building should be automatic, and he didn’t point fingers at anyone individually. His message was that the entire team wasn’t good enough.
Even after that loss, he didn’t light into the group. Babcock said he’d rather sleep on it than react in the moment.
That matters because Edmonton had been rolling at 8-1-1, making this one a rare rough night. Now the focus shifts to how they come out of their day off Sunday and respond Monday.
And then there’s the Connor Hellebuyck saga, where Carolina went big and still came up short.
The Hurricanes explored some unusual ways to land him, including trying to acquire forwards from other teams and flip them to Winnipeg. The Jets, though, were after immediate help up front, and they wanted a young core piece such as Stankoven or Jarvis. Carolina wasn’t willing to pay that kind of price, even after what was described as months of what they believed was a fair offer.
In the end, the Devils got the deal done. Jeff Marek called their earlier Remi Poirier waiver claim “one of the great bluffs we’ve seen in the NHL.” Sunny Mehta said the talks picked up in the final couple of days, and he even had to tell Hellebuyck not to just hop in his car and drive over.
In Other News...
Connor McDavid Is Giving Hurricanes Fans Another Reason To Revisit Edmonton
The Oilers have still been one of the NHLs early forces despite a recent loss to the Maple Leafs, opening the season with an 8-2-1 record and getting a lift from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in his return from injury. There has also been some turnover in the crease, with Devon Levi landing on injured reserve and Matt Tomkins coming up as the backup, but the bigger storyline in Edmonton has been the sheer pace of the offense.
Connor McDavid has driven much of that momentum, piling up points at a rate that has made even the standard in Edmonton feel absurdly high. For a Toronto team that just saw Edmonton up close, it is another reminder that the Oilers are still built around a star who can take over a game and shift the conversation around an entire season. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Trade Talk Is Heating Up Around One Tough Prospect Decision
A recent loss has only sharpened the conversation around Edmontons roster construction, and Allan Mitchell of The Athletic has put the spotlight on a familiar front-office dilemma: whether Stan Bowman has enough trade capital to address the big league club without stripping the system bare. Mitchell lays out six of the Oilers top prospect assets and frames the discussion around how Bowman might use the organizations depth to chase help, with the market for young players becoming part of the bigger picture.
The trick, as Mitchell sees it, is finding the right balance between keeping enough future value and making a move that can help now. Edmontons prospect pool includes several left-handed defensemen who could come up in trade talk, and the speculation extends to possible middle-six forward targets as well, which tells you where the conversation is headed even if nothing is imminent. For Leafs fans watching a conference rival try to solve the same roster puzzle every contender faces, it is another reminder that the trade board is already starting to buzz. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Just Sent A Loud Message With This Road Rout
William Nylander put the finishing touch on a statement road win Monday night, scoring twice in the third period as the Maple Leafs rolled past the Oilers 7-2 and stretched their winning streak to four games. Toronto got goals from Jack Roslovic, Auston Matthews, Troy Stecher, Zack MacEwen and Vinni Lettieri as well, while Anthony Stolarz turned aside 30 shots to help keep the game from ever getting back into reach.
The Leafs did plenty of damage in a matchup that featured offense from both sides, with Leon Draisaitl scoring twice for Edmonton and Tristan Jarry making 25 saves in the loss. For Toronto, the bigger takeaway was the way it kept piling on deep into the game, a sign of a group that is finding its rhythm and carrying real confidence into the next stretch of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]