Red Wings: Four teams that could target Dylan Larkin
By Chris Giles
Buffalo Sabres
Heading into the final weeks of summer, the Buffalo Sabres are under the cap floor. Currently, the Sabres have the lowest cap at just under $53 million. The team needs to add three players to their current roster and over $7.3 million to payroll in order to meet the cap floor.
Jack Eichel and his $10 million cap hit want out of Buffalo. If Detroit obtains Eichel, the pieces that Detroit will have to trade will need to add up to almost $17 million. The deal starts with Larkin and his $6.1 million cap hit. Detroit may also have to include Danny DeKeyser, and a draft pick in order for this trade to take place.
In my opinion, this trade does not move Detroit out of the re-build. For me, Eichel and Larkin are similar players. Eichel is better offensively than Larkin, but does Detroit really want damaged goods from Buffalo at a cap hit of $10 million for the next five years?
Taking on Eichel significantly slows down the re-build. The draft pick will probably have to be a 1st or 2nd round selection next year. Next year’s draft is loaded in the top 10 picks. In my opinion, Yzerman would not trade a first round selection in the next two drafts because of the number of impact players that are available.
Reality: Larkin is not traded to Buffalo