Dylan Larkin wants to play for the Montreal Canadiens, according to an insider

Montreal fans chanted for Dylan Larkin at the Bell Centre on Saturday night, and the Red Wings center may finally be listening.

According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, Larkin is not closed to the idea of playing in Montreal. He's simply being patient with the options in front of him.

The building made its pitch early. When the Detroit pivot was the last player off the ice after warmups, applause rolled down from the stands.

Then came "We want Larkin." The chant kept going right through the first period, which is a lot of lung power spent on a guy wearing the other jersey.

Here's why it's more than noise. Frank Seravalli has reported that the 30-year-old's list of acceptable destinations includes no Canadian franchise.

Dans Les Coulisses went further, reporting that Kent Hughes had an agreement in place with Detroit over the summer. The deal died because the player wouldn't budge.

And the real hurdle, per that same report, sits at the kitchen table. His family is the group that still needs convincing.

Kent Hughes still has a gaping hole behind Nick Suzuki

Montreal's need down the middle hasn't gone anywhere. Suzuki has 7 points through four games, and the support behind him has been thin.

Kirby Dach has one assist and a -2 rating. Jake Evans hasn't registered a point yet.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens entered this one riding a three-game losing streak. They're 0-2-0 at home, which makes the crowd's wish list feel a little more urgent.

Montreal has already allowed 19 goals. With Samuel Montembeault out until at least October 20, the crease offers no quick fix either.

Montreal should keep pushing on this, and hard. Dach hasn't grabbed the second-line job, and centers of this caliber rarely shake loose.

Larkin's own sample this season is small. He's appeared in only two of Detroit's four games so far.

He has a goal and an assist in that stretch, one of them a power-play helper. The cap hit sits at $8.7 million.

Friday night didn't help anybody in Detroit. Seattle walked into Little Caesars Arena and won 6-3.

The Red Wings center logged 18:19 that night and managed a single shot on goal.

So Detroit showed up in Montreal on the back end of a back-to-back, opening its road schedule with a 1-3-0 record.

Is that a team worth waiting on? Todd McLellan's group already sits at -4 in goal differential, and October isn't even half over.

Shawn Horcoff holds cards here too. Whatever framework Hughes built in the summer still needs Detroit's GM willing to pick the phone back up.

Chanting at a player with a restrictive list is a bit like serenading a house where the in-laws hold the deed. Sweet gesture. Not the final word.

Detroit heads home to face New Jersey on Tuesday. The Bell Centre made its offer loud and clear, but nobody knows yet if it carried all the way to the Larkin kitchen table.

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