Dylan Larkin's trade list could change within 48 hours

Dylan Larkin's trade list could change within 48 hours, and the Red Wings are running out of quiet days to sort it out.

Saturday night, hours after Detroit lost 5-4 to the Blues, Elliotte Friedman put a clock on the saga. "I think over the next 24-48 hours it's possible we see that trade list altered," he said on Saturday Headlines.

That's a short runway for a story that has dominated the trade chatter for days. Larkin is 30, a Waterford native and the 15th overall pick in 2014, and he has 6 points in 10 games this season.

Friedman didn't say which way the list moves. Altered could mean teams added, teams dropped, or both, and each version tells a different story about who is actually in the market.

A longer list helps Detroit, plain and simple. More approved destinations means more bidders, and more bidders means a better return for the Red Wings.

Montreal has already been part of that conversation. We covered how Friedman outlined a Canadiens path to Larkin's approval, and that thread hasn't gone away.

Detroit isn't waiting from a position of strength. The Red Wings sit at 6-5-3 with a goal differential of -2, and they've allowed 43 goals in 14 games.

Why the Larkin cap hit shapes every suitor

Any team on the list has to absorb an $8,700,000 cap hit that runs through 2030-31. That's a long commitment for a center with 649 career points, and it narrows the field before the approval list even enters the picture.

Teams with cap room and a hole down the middle are the obvious fits. Teams without both will need a third party to make the math work, which is where Philadelphia has surfaced.

Our earlier report had the Flyers willing to help Minnesota land Larkin, a wrinkle that shows how creative this could get.

Friedman noted that Larkin's list of approved trade destinations could change in the next day or two.

-

Detroit's next game is Monday at Florida, right inside Friedman's window. If the list moves before then, Larkin's name will be in the trade conversation again before the puck drops.

Also read on Markerzone.com:
Kapanen shuts down Gene Principe's Oilers PP question