Dylan Larkin is suddenly at the center of Detroit Red Wings trade chatter this week, and the version being floated is anything but simple.
Helene St. James weighed in Monday on the Tom Gazzola Show, saying she thinks a deal would “end up taking a three” and that “another team has to be involved.”
Her reasoning? The return, in her words, has to be “value now players.”
And the price tag on the other end is steep. “They basically need someone like Larkin in return,” St. James said.
Think of it like swapping houses with a neighbor who wants your place but can't cover the difference. Somebody else has to show up with a down payment.
The money explains part of the puzzle. The 30-year-old forward carries an $8,700,000 cap hit, the biggest number on Detroit's books.
His production hasn't matched it. He has 6 points while dressing for 10 of the team's 12 games, tied with Moritz Seider for sixth in team scoring.
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John Gibson's numbers point to Detroit's real problem
Alex DeBrincat leads the way with 13 points. Lucas Raymond has piled up 7 points over his last five.
Monday's 4-3 shootout win in Edmonton helped. Sort of.
Todd McLellan's group still sits eighth and last in the Atlantic at 5-4-3, with 13 points through 12 games.
A 5-2-3 run over the last 10 sounds decent until you see the -4 goal differential underneath it.
Then there's the crease. John Gibson owns an .867 save percentage over 8 appearances, and no amount of forward shuffling in the top six fixes that.
Daniil Tarasov has a .940 mark in 4 games but is listed day-to-day. Marco Kasper and Mason Appleton remain on injured reserve.
So here's the issue with the whole idea. Moving your highest-paid forward to chase win-now help, while the goaltending leaks like this, is a bad read of what's actually wrong.
Shawn Horcoff would be the one making that call. A three-team framework only adds more moving parts to a deal that's already tough to price.
For what it's worth, Larkin has 3 points and a +3 rating over his last five.
Chicago comes to town Thursday night, carrying a 0-4-0 road record and a -18 goal differential.
After that, St. Louis visits Saturday before a back-to-back in Florida and Tampa Bay.
If that road trip goes sideways, the phones get louder. And Detroit still has to figure out whether Larkin is the problem or the price.
Should the Red Wings trade Dylan Larkin before fixing their goaltending?
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