Dylan Larkin's trade list is bigger than anyone thought, and the Detroit Red Wings woke up Friday morning to a very different conversation.
Elliotte Friedman reported that the list runs roughly eight teams deep. Colorado, Washington, Dallas and Tampa Bay are all on it.
Every one of them is a U.S. team. Not a single Canadian market made the cut.
A trade list works like a guest list for a party nobody has officially planned. It doesn't mean the invitations are going out. But somebody sat down and wrote the names.
The production isn't the problem. Larkin put up 34 goals and 67 points in 74 games last season.
It was his fourth straight season with at least 30 goals. Pull that out of Detroit's top six and the math gets ugly in a hurry.
So why does this list keep growing?
Shawn Horcoff eyes a bridge deal for Simon Edvinsson
Friedman also heard that Detroit's preference is a bridge contract for Simon Edvinsson. That tells you plenty about how Shawn Horcoff is budgeting the next few summers.
The center carries an $8,700,000 cap hit through 2030-31. At 30 years old, that's a long runway for a player who hasn't sniffed the spring in years.
Here's the number that stings. Across 808 NHL games, he has dressed for just 5 playoff games.
And those came way back in 2015-16, his rookie season. One goal. That's the entire postseason résumé.
Trading him would be a mistake. Detroit took him 15th overall in 2014, he's a Waterford, Michigan kid, and he has given this franchise 643 points without ever asking out.
The fits aren't simple either. Colorado already pays Nathan MacKinnon $12,604,000 and Martin Necas $11,500,000.
Dallas has Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson each at $12,000,000, with Thomas Harley right behind them. Wedging another big center into that cap sheet takes real creativity.
Washington and Tampa Bay have their own heavy tickets on the books. Alex Tuch sits at $10,500,000 with the Capitals, while Andrei Vasilevskiy eats $9,500,000 in Tampa.
Todd McLellan's group beat Buffalo 3-2 in overtime Thursday night, its second straight preseason win. Columbus visits Saturday.
Every Detroit shift in that one gets watched a little differently now. Scouts from eight cities know exactly where they stand.
The Red Wings haven't said they're shopping anyone. But the list is out there, eight names long, and the regular season opens October 2 against the Rangers.
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Should the Red Wings trade Dylan Larkin while four straight 30-goal seasons still carry real value?
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