Dylan Larkin still has no interest in a Canadian address, and the Red Wings are hearing it while bouncing through Western Canada.
Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos reported Thursday that Larkin has no appetite to play for a Canadian team “yet.” He labeled a deal sending him to Montreal a remote possibility.
One word is doing all the heavy lifting there.
Yet is the hockey version of a teenager promising to clean his room later. Nobody believes the room is getting cleaned, but nobody stops asking either.
Detroit beat Vancouver 5-2 last night. The veteran logged 20:09 and stayed off the scoresheet.
Calgary waits Saturday, then Edmonton on Monday. Three straight Canadian rinks for a guy who reportedly doesn't want one as his home building.
The Red Wings are 4-3-3 and sixth in their division. Hardly a club in fire-sale mode.
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Shawn Horcoff holds the phone as Canadiens rumors keep coming
That's the twist in Detroit. Shawn Horcoff is running the front office as interim GM, and interim tags rarely come with an appetite for blockbuster moves.
Would an interim GM really move the forward carrying the biggest cap hit on the roster? Larkin's $8,700,000 number tops every Red Wing.
And the production hasn't matched the price. He has one goal through eight games and nothing over his last five.
The power play has squeezed two assists out of him, and that's about where the good news stops.
Montreal's side of this is easier to read. The Canadiens visit Chicago tonight sitting 22nd overall, with 34 goals already allowed.
Lane Hutson leads the club with nine points. Behind the young core, the support simply hasn't shown up.
Phillip Danault has two points. Jake Evans is still looking for his first and already sits at minus-5.
Kent Hughes chasing Larkin anyway would be a mistake.
You don't empty the prospect cupboard for a player who has to be sold on the city. Those deals age badly by the second winter.
Montreal took the first meeting 1-0 in a shootout, and the two clubs don't see each other again until February 18.
Three meetings remain, the last one on March 28 in Montreal.
Whether Horcoff still carries the interim tag by then might matter more than anything Larkin says between now and puck drop.
Should Kent Hughes keep chasing Dylan Larkin even after he said not yet?
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