Dylan Larkin wants to join his best friend as Cup contender emerges as surprise destination
Dylan Larkin has asked the Detroit Red Wings for a trade, and now a first potential destination is already surfacing.
Insider David Pagnotta of Fourth Period reported Thursday that Larkin is close friends with Jack Eichel and has genuine interest in joining Vegas as the Knights pursue another Stanley Cup run.
The timing makes the fit hard to ignore. Vegas finished the regular season at 39-26-17 for 95 points, went 7-0-3 in its last 10 games, and carries a plus-15 goal differential into the offseason.
Detroit went 41-31-10 for 92 points. But a 2-6-2 mark in its final 10 games tells you the story ended with a thud.
Larkin is 29 years old and carries a $8.7 million cap hit. He put up 34 goals and 33 assists for 67 points in 74 games this season.
He also posted 9 game-winning goals, ranking first on the team, and scored 14 power play goals. That's a franchise center playing at a high level.
Steve Yzerman faces the hardest call of his rebuild
And that is exactly what makes this so messy for GM Steve Yzerman. You don't trade your captain and top center without a seismic return. But you also can't keep a player who no longer wants to be there.
Larkin went 4 goals and 5 assists in his final 5 games. His last-10 line was 5 goals and 6 assists. The hockey was fine. The relationship, apparently, isn't.
Vegas already has Eichel at $10 million against the cap. Adding Larkin at $8.7 million creates a real puzzle for GM Kelly McCrimmon.
John Tortorella took over as Vegas head coach on March 29. How he envisions fitting two high-usage centers into the same lineup is worth watching closely.
Yzerman built this roster around Larkin. Lucas Raymond posted 76 points this season. Moritz Seider added 60. The young core is real.
But a rebuild with an unhappy captain is not a rebuild. It's a mess.
The post from Pagnotta is timestamped June 4, and it's already spreading fast across hockey circles.
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Whether Yzerman moves fast or holds firm, one thing is already settled: this offseason just became the most consequential in Detroit's recent history, and it's barely started.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 4, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brett Howden | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mark Jankowski | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||