As the summer drags on, the Minnesota Wild and Detroit Red Wings are still at a stalemate in trade talks for Dylan Larkin. The star center requested a trade during the Stanley Cup Finals and while the Wild are extremely interested, they haven’t presented a package that appeals to Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman.
With Yzerman’s extensive history with holdouts and an urgency to end a 10-year playoff drought, there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight for this latest drama. But according to The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman, the Wild also may have a good reason to wait things out.
“As long as the Larkin situation is unresolved, the Red Wings are stuck in limbo,” Goldman wrote. “It all depends on what this team can get back for one of its most valuable players. What challenges the situation more is that Detroit views Larkin as a first-line center, while most contenders are likely looking at him as more of a 2C in their respective lineups.”
The Wild may end up having the best offer for Dylan Larkin
Goldman’s assessment shows why the Wild are so hellbent on acquiring Larkin. Minnesota was one of the top teams in the NHL last season with a center group featuring Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman and Danila Yurov last season but they had to cough up their second-round pick to acquire Michael McCarron from the Nashville Predators ahead of the trade deadline.
Furthermore, the Wild’s center grouping went into chaos when Eriksson Ek was injured in their series-clinching win in their first-round series against the Dallas Stars. After watching their offense spin its wheels while being gentleman’s swept in the following series against the Colorado Avalanche, the Wild know they need to acquire a top-line center and the Red Wings are looking to use that at leverage.
The only problem is that the Wild may be the only team on Larkin’s four team no-trade list that views Larkin as a top-line center as the Vegas Golden Knights have Jack Eichel in that role and the Florida Panthers have Aleksander Barkov. Even the Dallas Stars balked at giving up current top-line center Wyatt Johnston in a deal for Larkin and may not be willing to give up Jason Robertson with Johnston and Roope Hintz already down the middle.
In each of those cases, it could lead to more offers revolving around “future” assets as opposed to ones that can step into the lineup and it could leave Yzerman staring at the Wild’s offer as the best one he receives.
Goldman also points out that while Yzerman could continue to play hardball, it’s also holding up whatever plan he has to improve the Red Wings. Signing Viktor Arvidsson was one move, but Detroit also needs to re-sign restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson to a long-term deal, potentially bring back Patrick Kane and find a way to boost their five-on-five scoring.
Larkin is signed through the next five years and Yzerman could force him to honor that contract and show up to training camp. But outside of the elephant in the room, Yzerman’s stubbornness could lead him to bring back most of the same team that collapsed and missed the playoffs after being tied for first place in the Eastern Conference on January 24.
Yzerman is doing the right thing to get the best offer possible. But if the Wild’s offer is the best, he might have to take it or risk not giving his roster the overhaul it needs to return to the playoffs. That should give Wild GM Bill Guerin incentive to wait it out and perhaps get the top-line center he’s been searching for this offseason.
Add us as a preferred source on Google