The Detroit Red Wings are playing Dylan Larkin even as he has an active trade request.
It makes for a bit of an awkward situation for everyone.
The home fans aren’t happy that their former captain wants out of town.
His teammates know that a guy on the ice with them might soon be shipped away.
Larkin is at risk of an injury that could change how this all plays out in the end.
But the reality is that Detroit hasn’t found another option at this point. It doesn’t help the Red Wings to keep Larkin out of action, but it’s also been hard to deal him.
The idea that Larkin only wants to go certain places has been well documented. Clearly, the presence of his no-trade clause and a teams list limits what Detroit can do.
There’s another factor, though, that pairs with that to make things even tougher: Larkin’s cap hit.
An $8.7 Million Hold-Up
The Venn diagram of the teams that would want Larkin, the teams that Larkin wants and the teams with cap space has essentially no full overlap.
Larkin doesn’t want a team like the Canadiens, referenced by David Pagnotta for Daily Faceoff.
“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,” Pagnotta said. “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.”
But if it’s not Montreal, then the other contenders that might work for Larkin on the ice and even in an offer to Detroit simply don’t have the cap space to take him.
“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,” Pagnotta said. “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.”
So What Now?
It’s a bit of a standoff at the moment to see if Larkin’s list expands or if another team figures out a way to clear money.
“Capitals don’t have cap space,” Pagnotta said. “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.”
Patience is a virtue. Hopefully both Larkin and the Red Wings possess it.
There’s an $8.7 Million Problem With Red Wings Trading Dylan Larkin