What trade packages could Panthers, Wild and Golden Knights offer for Dylan Larkin?
It has been a little more than a week since the hockey world was shocked when Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin asked out of Motor City. He’s to enter year four of an eight year extension he signed ($8.7 million AAV) in 2023, and there is no shortage of teams looking for top-six centers.
Larkin, who has a full no-trade clause, gave Detroit GM Steve Yzerman a narrow list of teams to work with: the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights. A very unoriginal list, as all three of those teams have contended for (or won) Stanley Cups over the last several seasons and two of the three exist in no-tax states.
With that said, here are the best three packages each team could put conceivably together to acquire Larkin.
Florida Panthers:
Anton Lundell, 2025 ninth-overall pick, 2025 second-round pick (Wings also include goaltender Sebastian Cossa)
Yzerman can’t focus solely on futures in exchange for Larkin – he needs win-now pieces that are also young. Lundell, a 2020 first-round pick, would be exactly that and get a capable body to play down the middle. Lundell has been the third-line pivot in Florida, though he played up the lineup this year due to injuries to Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett. Registering 18 goals and 44 points in 64 games for the Panthers, Lundell showed promise of being a long term top-six center.
And why the addition of the 2021-drafted goaltender Cossa? If Lundell and the ninth overall pick are included, it is too much for the soon-to-be 30-year-old Larkin. The Panthers also don’t have an NHL goaltender signed for next season, with Sergei Bobrovsky set to become a UFA. Cossa would automatically become the future of the crease in Sunrise, while Larkin’s addition would (presumably) push Bennett down to a third-line role, which could be optimal in the long term.
Minnesota Wild:
Charlie Stramel, Danila Yurov, 2027 first-round pick
This one seems like low hanging fruit, as GM Bill Guerin blew the lion’s share of his trade assets when he acquired superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks. That being said, dangling young centers Stramel and Yurov could get a conversation going.
Much like the rationale with acquiring Lundell, the Red Wings need to (ideally) bring back NHL-ready bodies down the middle. Yes, the Wings have Nate Danielson in the pipeline, but the likes of J.T. Compher and Andrew Copp won’t cut it as the top-two guys down the middle at the NHL level in the meantime. Yurov has already established himself as a middle-six pivot with the upside to grow to be more; Stramel’s stock has never been higher, coming off a season where he scored 44 points in 37 games for Michigan State.
Yurov and Stramel are nice pieces but don’t move the needle enough along to pry Larkin out of Detroit – enter the 2027 first-rounder.
Vegas Golden Knights:
Pavel Dorofeyev (RFA) and Tomas Hertl
So why would Vegas do this? They are two wins away from a Stanley Cup and both of the guys they’d be giving up for Larkin have been major contributors for them.
Dorofeyev, 25, blew the doors open this year, scoring 37 points and 64 points in all 82 regular season games this season to go along with 16 points in 21 games through the playoffs thus far. A staple on the top line, Dorofeyev is in for a significant contract as he is set to become an RFA this summer.
The 32-year-old Hertl has managed to stay productive in a reduced, third-line role in Vegas, finishing the regular season with 58 points in 82 games along with 14 points through 21 playoff contests. With four years left on his contract that carries an AAV of $6.75 million, it would be a way to make the money work for the Knights to acquire Larkin; they project to have a little more than $4.6 million in salary cap space this summer and also have to make a decision on re-signing top-four defenseman Rasmus Andersson. The one fly in the ointment is Hertl’s trade protection, as he has a three-team approved list.
For the Wings, they would get a capable middle-six center right away and a rising star in his mid-20s. All this being said, this seems like the least likely of deals. It would be an overpay for Vegas – but it’s an idea if they’re hellbent on Larkin and deem Hertl’s cap hit expendable.
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