Dylan Larkin trade talks heat up in Detroit

The Larkin saga has dragged on since the summer. Now the insiders are talking like it's almost done.

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Could a Dylan Larkin trade be immanent? NHL Insider David Pagnotta reports that trade conversations involving the Red Wings captain have picked up in recent days. More on today's Morning Cuppa Hockey ☕️ 🎧: t.co/efUXVbkOgP 📺: t.co/JP0nCPuLE9

Some quick housekeeping, because the clip still calls him the captain: he isn't anymore. Detroit stripped Larkin of the C before training camp, after he asked for a trade once the Red Wings missed the playoffs for a 10th straight season. That's a decade without a playoff game for a guy who was supposed to be the face of the rebuild. You can see why he wanted out.

This hasn't been a secret for months. Back in June, then-GM Steve Yzerman confirmed Larkin's agent had handed the team a list of clubs Larkin would waive his no-trade clause for. That list is the whole ballgame. Larkin has a full no-trade, so Detroit can't just take the best offer on the table. It has to take the best offer from a team he's willing to go to.

Pagnotta isn't the only one saying it's close. ESPN's John Buccigross said Friday he expects the Red Wings to move Larkin within 7 to 10 days. The Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens have reportedly been the most aggressive, with Florida, San Jose, the Rangers and Pittsburgh also in the mix. Detroit is reportedly asking for a top-6 forward, a top prospect and a first-round pick. That's a big ask, but a No. 1 center with term doesn't come up for sale very often.

And the term is a big part of the price. Larkin signed an 8-year, $69.6 million extension in March 2023, and it runs through 2030-31 at an $8.7 million cap hit. If you're a contender, you're getting a 30-year-old top-line center locked in at a fair number for 5 more seasons. If you're Detroit, you get to clear that money and restock a pipeline that just watched its best player ask out.

What to watch: whether Montreal or Minnesota gets it done first, and whether the return really includes a roster forward or ends up as mostly futures. Either way, a deal now changes Detroit's whole season. Pull your top center out of the lineup in October and the playoff drought probably hits 11 years, so the Wings had better get a haul for him.