Walnut Rowe Analytics LLC

The Center Market is officially heating up, with a new name entering the list of possible options for the Minnesota Wild. Detroit Red Wings Captain Dylan Larkin has reportedly requested a trade from the team, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Entering Year 4 of an 8-Year, $8.7 Million deal, Larkin is not only one of the premier options now circling on the center market, but is also one of the most affordable cap-wise for a 1C. Larkin, entering his age 30 season, has a full No Trade Clause and has been a consistent 60-70 point player who is competent on both ends of the ice, boasting speed and face-off ability (52.9% last season, consistently in the 52-54% range) that the Minnesota Wild are lacking down the middle.

The true curveball in this trade request came from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, who reported that an Anonymous Person within the NHL revealed that Larkin has 3 teams that he is willing to accept a trade to: the Florida Panthers, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Minnesota Wild. While not untypical for players in Larkin’s situation to provide a list of teams they are willing to be dealt to, this list has sparked a lot of controversy online, given that two of the teams have won cups very recently and seemingly lack the assets to acquire the center. That being said, I don’t believe this is a list we should treat as gospel; I will center my analysis on these teams plus one other I have seen thrown around, but given that the source of this is a single anonymous staffer and the report has not been confirmed by Larkin’s camp, I think this could simply be 3 spots he’d prefer to go as opposed to a hard-stop list.

One thing to note about the list is that all three teams feature players from the 2026 Team USA Olympic Roster (Matthew Tkachuk for Florida, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin for Vegas, Boldy, Faber, and Hughes for Minnesota), so I believe that his preferred destination would be a team that has a teammate from that squad that he is close with. That brings my list of his likely destinations to the following:

• Reported Destinations
  • Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights
• Likely Alternatives
  • Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Utah Mammoth
• Unlikely Alternatives
  • Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanche, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning

Some of the “Unlikely Teams” could very well end up being his final destination, but I feel that A) Larkin would ultimately not want to go to that spot for a variety of reasons, or B) a trade package from that team would not make sense for Detroit to accept for Larkin.

Speaking of, I differ in my opinion from the consensus, it seems, when it comes to what I think Detroit might want for Dylan Larkin. Looking at their team (minus Larkin), they have a glut of young talent that needs to break onto the roster; Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson, and Amadeus Lombardi are just a few. To me, a prospect-centered package makes no sense for a team that barely missed the playoffs despite several parts of the roster failing to fire. I think that Detroit would want a package resembling a First Round Pick, Young player(s) who are NHL ready, and roster pieces, especially ones that can shore up their defensive core on the left-hand side. They do not need a goalie, with Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine both ready for NHL action next year, and I think they do not need any more young defenders, as Axel Sandin Pellikka, Shai Buium, and William Wallinder all will vie for roster spots next season in the bottom 4. 

Let’s go through the three teams the Detroit Free Press reported are Larkin’s top options (as well as one other I have seen reported frequently) and see what pieces these teams could be moving in order to acquire the centerman.

Florida Panthers

Starting with the Florida Panthers, this team has a core of talent locked down for several seasons, with all of Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Brad Marchand, Seth Jones, Aaron Ekblad, and Gustav Forsling having full NMCs, leaving them off the board in any Larkin trade. They have two roster pieces that could be of interest to Detroit in Niko Mikkola and Anton Lundell, but given the Panthers signed Mikkola to an 8-year extension starting next season, and Lundell is their only young player with any upside that has shown consistent improvement, I don’t think moving either would ultimately make the Panthers a better team next year. Their prospect pool is poor, with only 23-year-old Mackie Samoskevich having any upside as a middle-six winger. That being said, Florida does have the best draft capital option, as they hold the 9th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, as well as two second-round picks that could help bolster a trade package.

Ultimately, I do not think Florida pulls the trigger. They have no goalie signed next year, and basically an entire bottom-6 forward grouping to sort out on $15 million in cap space. I do not believe that they would be willing to swing some of their only good depth assets like Lundell or Luostarinen in order to make the team more top-heavy. Additionally, Florida is in a rare position to be good next year (remember, they only dropped this season due to tons of injuries) and snag a top prospect in this draft class, which they sorely need going forward as their core ages and they lack first-round picks in 2027 and 2028.

I have seen people throw around 9th OA + Lundell as a package for Larkin; if Yzerman can pull that out of Florida, he should accept that trade in a heartbeat, but I do not think that Florida will get seriously into the Larkin sweepstakes given the state of their roster.

Vegas Golden Knights

Another team with interesting assets that I think the team will not part with for Larkin is the Vegas Golden Knights. With no first or second round picks this year and next, Vegas has little top-end prospect talent that Detroit could look at, with only Trevor Connelly looking like he could amount to anything in a middle-6 winger role. Similar to Florida, much of Vegas’ core pieces are locked in with NMCs or M-NTCs, with only William Karlsson being the roster player that Vegas could be willing to move. If I were Detroit, I would want Hertl, but given his production and cap hit, Vegas likely holds off. Both also have some NTC protection, so Detroit might be a non-starter for those players. I can’t see a trade involving Brett Howden or Ivan Barbashev, as both have shown their worth to Vegas in the regular and postseason.

The only asset of any true value I have seen people throw out from Vegas is the RFA rights to winger Pavel Dorofeyev, who is coming off a 37-goal, 64-point campaign. However, I do not think Vegas will move off one of a premier young goal scorer who has back-to-back 35+ goal seasons and is currently their top line right winger. Again, if Yzerman can somehow pry Dorofeyev out of Vegas in a Larkin package, he should do that in a heartbeat, but I think Vegas knows his worth, and I do not think adding Larkin at that cost makes the Golden Knights a better team.

Minnesota Wild

Hometown bias aside, of Larkin’s reported destinations he would waive his trade protection for, the Minnesota Wild are the team I think could piece together a package that both sides can benefit from. I do not believe that center prospect Charlie Stramel would be sent to Detroit in a deal, as I think the Red Wings have better players that need to get reps down the middle; instead, I would expect C/W Danila Yurov to be the centerpiece of the trade. Coming off a 27-point rookie campaign centering the third line, Yurov showed plenty of flashes as he adjusts to North American hockey. However, his poor performance on the dot means he is likely seen by Detroit as a top-6 winger, which they certainly need and lack internal options for. I believe Yurov has more upside at wing, and think he could be a 60-point-per-year player there, which could make him very appealing for the Red Wings. 

Minnesota also has several roster pieces that Detroit could be interested in; Ryan Hartman (10-team NTC) would represent an upgrade over several of their middle-6 C/W options, and his expiring deal could be flipped at the deadline should Detroit stumble in the post-Larkin era. Reigning hits-leader Yakov Trenin could be a huge upgrade for their bottom-6, and could be a cap casualty for the Wild, especially following their re-signing of C Michael McCarron. On the defensive side, Jonas Brodin has no trade protection and would immediately be the second pairing LD for Detroit, but would be difficult for Minnesota to replace given his impact when healthy. I think that LD Jacob Middleton (15-team NTC) makes more sense to move for Minnesota, given he is stuck on the 3rd pair and could beat out an aging Ben Chairot for the second pairing role in Detroit. The Wild also have First Round Picks in 2027 and 2028, as well as several other prospect options such as Rieger Lorenz, Riley Heidt, Carson Lambos, David Spacek, Ryder Ritchie, Adam Benák, and Aron Kiviharju. 

I think a package of Yurov, Hartman, Brodin/Middleton, and a First Round Pick could be a win-win for both sides, with Minnesota landing the 1C they have been missing for the franchise’s entire existence while Detroit moves their aggrieved captain for several pieces that address current needs to try and bounce back into the playoffs next year.

New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils are the last team I wanted to go over, as I have seen a few reports of them circling the Larkin situation. New Jersey represents a situation similar to Detroit, in my opinion; both teams underperformed and missed the playoffs, and should be looking to retool their rosters. New Jersey, however, has a lot more pieces that are in the NHL now compared to Detroit, with young forwards Dawson Mercer (20 goals, 42 points) and Arseny Gritsyuk (13 goals, 31 points) as well as young RD Simon Nemec (11 goals, 26 points),  LD Anton Silayev (3 points in 61 games in KHL), and RD Seamus Casey (split time between NJ and Utica the past two seasons) all being pieces I could see New Jersey dangling. 

Out of that grouping, Mercer is likely the only one Detroit would be interested in, as they have a glut of RD prospects that Nemec/Casey would have to contend with, and Gritsyuk seems destined for a 3rd-line role. New Jersey also has all their first-round picks for the next three years, making them a more enticing partner if Detroit wants to continue adding to its prospect pool, but I don’t think they have any other roster pieces that Detroit would find enticing, especially on the blue line. 
One potential swap that could be intriguing hinges on whether new GM Sunny Mehta has productive conversations with Captain Nico Hischier regarding an extension. Hischier, 27, is entering the final year of his $7.25 Million deal with New Jersey, and production wise is similar to what Larkin would bring. However, given that Hischier is the more valuable asset in this scenario (assuming a trade would hinge on an extension with Detroit occurring), I think a deal would include some prospect swaps as well; Larkin + Cossa gives NJ a goalie of the future alongside a center to replace Hischier, while Detroit adds Hischier + Gritsyuk to bolster their forward grouping (and arguably upgrading on Larkin) while moving the lesser of their two NHL-ready goalie options.