Dylan Larkin still wears the Red Wings' captaincy tonight, but the Philadelphia Flyers keep circling this trade rumor hard.
Steve Yzerman walked away as Detroit's general manager on July 15. That timing changes everything for Larkin's future.
He requested a trade after another frustrating year in Detroit.
His reported list of preferred destinations included Florida, Minnesota and Vegas. Philadelphia was not one of them.
That's the roadblock. Larkin holds a full no-trade clause, and he carries an $8.7 million cap hit built for a true number one center.
He still looks like one. Larkin put up 34 goals and 67 points in 74 games this season, going plus-3 with nine game-winning goals.
Over his last ten games he racked up 11 points on five goals and six assists. The tank isn't close to empty at 29.
Yzerman's exit reshapes who controls Larkin's next move
Todd McLellan is still behind Detroit's bench, and the Red Wings just finished 41-31-10 with a minus-17 goal differential. That's not a captain's finish.
The Red Wings closed the year on a three-game skid, capped by a 1-8 loss at Florida. That's the version of Detroit that pushed him to ask out in the first place.
Philadelphia is a different animal. The Flyers finished 43-27-12, good for 98 points and a plus-7 goal differential, with Rick Tocchet running the bench.
They went 2-1 against Detroit this season, including a 6-3 win at home in April. Larkin was on the losing end of two of those three meetings.
Matvei Michkov scored 20 goals and set up 31 more as a rookie. Pairing him with a real number one center is exactly the kind of upgrade Philadelphia has been chasing.
Trevor Zegras had a strong year too, 26 goals and 67 points while logging center minutes. Larkin would push him to the wing or a matchup role, not bury him.
Here's my problem with the fantasy. General manager Daniel Briere should not be trading Michkov or multiple kids for a 29-year-old, no matter how good he still looks.
Larkin is signed through the 2030-31 season, five years of control Philadelphia would inherit without knowing if he even wants to be there.
The math only works if he opens the door himself. Until the list expands, Briere is negotiating with a ghost.
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Detroit's next hockey boss inherits this mess whether he likes it or not, and Larkin's patience for a rebuild that keeps ending like that Florida blowout is not unlimited.
Should the Flyers empty their prospect pool to chase Dylan Larkin?
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