Colorado has been added to Dylan Larkin's trade list, and the Avalanche might be the most dangerous landing spot on it.
Chris Johnston laid out the shape of that list. "I think it's...teams that have a chance to win; Colorado's been added, for example."
Then he named the catch. "The problem is...those teams don't have...the ability cap wise...or maybe they don't have the pieces."
That's the Larkin puzzle in one sentence. The teams he'd want to join are often the teams least able to fit him.
Colorado's money is already spoken for at the top. Nathan MacKinnon carries a $12,604,000 cap hit, and Martin Necas sits at $11,500,000.
Gabriel Landeskog adds another $7,000,000. Any Larkin deal would mean sending real salary back to Detroit.
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Chris MacFarland would need cap gymnastics to land Larkin
The Avalanche look every bit the contender. They're 2-0-0, with an 8-4 win over Los Angeles and a 6-1 win over St. Louis.
Larkin, a center coming off a 34-goal season, would slide in behind MacKinnon and make that lineup a nightmare for opponents.
Detroit's ask complicates things too. The Red Wings have wanted something close to another star in return, and contenders rarely have that kind of piece to spare.
Colorado should find a way. Two elite centres down the middle would make the Avalanche the team to beat, and that's worth some painful cap surgery.
Fitting him under this cap is like squeezing a sofa through a door built for a kitchen chair. Possible, but somebody's losing a leg off the frame.
Elliotte Friedman has floated the idea that an Edvinsson deal could help Detroit lower its Larkin ask. If that happens, a team like Colorado suddenly looks a lot more realistic.
For now, the Avalanche visit Winnipeg on Wednesday and Calgary on Thursday. Somewhere in between, Chris MacFarland might be checking his math.
Should the Avalanche trade for Dylan Larkin?
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