A three-team trade pitch built around Dylan Larkin, Shane Wright and Simon Edvinsson took off Tuesday, and the Red Wings sit right in the middle of it.
It started with David Pagnotta on Morning Cuppa Hockey. He said Seattle has interest in a guy like Edvinsson, then wondered aloud whether Wright could anchor the package.
Even NHL Rumour Report tagged it as possibly some speculation. That didn't stop a version sourced, tongue in cheek, to "Claude" from clearing 113.1K views by Tuesday night.
Here's the framework. Detroit gets Wright, Kaiden Guhle, Oliver Kapanen, Seattle's 2027 first, Montreal's 2027 first and Seattle's 2027 second.
Seattle lands Edvinsson, signed to a fresh seven-year deal before he moves. Montreal gets Larkin and, in the pitch's own words, its 2C.
The selling line is that the Wings rebuild on the fly. At 1-2-0 and 26th overall, a reset isn't a crazy conversation in that dressing room.
Kent Hughes would be giving up a center to get one
Start with Montreal, because that's where the math gets ugly. Kapanen scored 22 goals over 82 games last season at a $942,500 cap hit.
He's 23. He shoots right. Teams don't usually ship that kind of cheap production to a rival with a first-round pick stapled on.
Then there's Guhle, signed at $5,550,000 through 2030-31. After 11 points in 39 games last season, he added 8 assists across 19 playoff games.
So what exactly is Kent Hughes buying? A 30-year-old center with an $8,700,000 cap hit, who had a goal and an assist in 20:41 Tuesday against Ottawa.
Detroit won that one 5-3. Nick Suzuki opened Montreal's season with 6 points in three games, so Larkin would slot in behind him as the 2C.
Seattle's side looks cleaner. Edvinsson is a 6-foot-6, 222-pound left shot taken sixth overall in 2021, and he went plus-12 in each of the last two seasons.
He'd join a Kraken blue line featuring Vince Dunn and Brandon Montour. That group just watched Vegas walk out of Seattle with a 6-2 win.
The price is Wright. The 22-year-old scored in that loss, put 4 shots on goal and has 2 goals through four games at an $886,666 cap hit.
Flipping him now feels like selling the house the same month the kitchen finally gets finished.
Nothing in Pagnotta's comments ties Shawn Horcoff to any of this. Pagnotta called it connecting dots, and that's all it is for now.
But the schedule has a sense of humor. Detroit hosts Seattle Friday, then visits Montreal Saturday on a back-to-back.
Three teams, two nights, one rumor nobody has confirmed. Wright and the Kraken see Detroit first, and every shift will get read differently until somebody actually picks up a phone.
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Should Kent Hughes send Kaiden Guhle, Oliver Kapanen and a first to Detroit for Dylan Larkin?
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