Dylan Larkin wants out of Detroit, and the Red Wings are already shopping for his replacement.
Word broke yesterday, per David Pagnotta and Irfaan Gaffar on the DFO Rundown, that Detroit is chasing another top six forward.
The name attached is Eeli Tolvanen, a pending free agent teams around the league are circling this summer.
Detroit's front office doesn't usually tip his hand this early in July. But interest in a scoring winger says plenty about where this roster actually stands.
According to David Pagnotta & Irfaan Gaffar on the DFO Rundown, the Detroit Red Wings are looking for another top-six forward, and have expressed interest in F Eeli Tolvanen.
Larkin closed last season hot. He put up 9 points in his final 5 games, part of a 67-point year across 74 appearances with 34 goals.
That's the version of Larkin Detroit built around. It's also the version they may be about to lose.
His cap hit sits at 8,700,000 dollars, a number that gets a lot harder to move if he keeps producing at that pace down the stretch.
Larkin's trade request puts Yzerman in a corner
Because that's the real story here. A captain-level center reportedly asking his way out changes every roster conversation in Hockeytown.
Detroit finished 41-31-10 for 92 points, good for 16th overall and sixth in the division. Not the collapse some expected, but not good enough either.
The finish wasn't pretty. Detroit went 2-6-2 over their last 10 and closed with a lopsided 1-8 road loss in Florida on April 15.
So what exactly is Detroit building here? Adding a complementary scorer while your top center wants a new address is like rearranging furniture while the moving truck idles outside.
Todd McLellan inherited a roster with size, skill and a habit of fading late. Losing Larkin would strip out the one player who consistently drove the top six.
Bringing in Tolvanen fills a need on paper. It does nothing to answer the bigger question sitting in Yzerman's inbox right now.
Detroit fans have heard promises about contention before. This summer feels different, and not in a way the front office wanted heading into July.
-
Nothing here gets resolved by one depth signing. Larkin's future is still the only story that matters in Detroit, and it isn't close to written yet.
Should the Red Wings trade Dylan Larkin this summer if he keeps pushing to leave?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
The Maple Leafs are getting roasted over what many are calling the worst trade of the year
