Location continues to be the sticking point for a Dylan Larkin trade
As we go further into the 2026-27 season, the question remains: Will the Detroit Red Wings trade Dylan Larkin?
Larkin’s name has been in headlines since June, when he was first asked for a trade from the only team he’s ever known. At first, he only asked to go to three teams – the Vegas Golden Knights, Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild. He has since expanded that list to 8-9 teams. Yet, a trade has yet to be made, leading many to believe the former captain might have to expand his list of preferred destinations even more to make it happen, or else he’ll have to continue to play in Detroit.
On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, David Pagnotta joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to discuss how Larkin’s trade destinations might be holding the Red Wings back from getting a deal done.
David Pagnotta: You’re not freeing up the $8.7 million [cap hit] anyway, but the eight, nine, 10 places that he’s willing to go to, they don’t have cap space. So, it still goes to what I’ve been saying – You’ve got to create the package for Larkin that’s attractive enough for Detroit to do it, and then you’ve got to figure out how the hell you make the money work. It’s a complicated situation unless he expands his list even more. If he says yes, and him and his family say yes to Montreal, I mean I have it on pretty good standing that he’ll be a Hab a few hours later. They are ready to pull the trigger on a move for Larkin. It’s just up to him and his family as to whether or not they want to go to Montreal, and, so far, the answer is still no.
Does that change with other teams? Capitals don’t have cap space. Colorado doesn’t have cap space. Minnesota doesn’t, etc. You kind of have to wait things out, and I can’t imagine he wants to play out the season in Detroit. He wants this to be done sooner than later. The only way to do that is – you got to expand that list even more if you want something relatively immediate. Otherwise, you’re waiting and you’re trying to see how creative Horcoff can get with being a Billy Guerin in Minnesota or somebody else somewhere else. Until you do that, you’re going to be playing the waiting game.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…
