The Detroit Red Wings may finally have a trade partner for Dylan Larkin.
The Florida Panthers have been bitten by the injury bug; with both Brad Marchand and Alexsander Barkov both out long-term, they should have enough cap space to acquire Larkin from the Red Wings. Obviously, both sides will need to be happy with the deal; however, at this point, Detroit may need to accept that the deal that they could get may not be exactly what they wanted, but it'll get rid of some drama surrounding the club.
Larkin to the Panthers makes too much sense
As mentioned, with both Barkov and Marchand out, that gives the Panthers $15.25 million in cap space if they are both put on LTIR. That is plenty of space to acquire Larkin, who only makes $8.7 million.
The biggest issue would be the trade package. Are the Panthers okay with parting with more futures as well as a roster player(s)? The two names that stand out the most would be either Anton Lundell or Eetu Luostarinen, who both don't carry no-movement or trade clauses. The trade-off would make sense; Florida would be getting a number one center in Larkin. But, at the same time, both Lundell and Luostarinen are key pieces to their roster. Outside of that, the Panthers don't have a ton of young assets; they have Sandis Vilmanis, who is 22 but also a forward.
This is where the draft picks would come in and help the trade get across the finish line. Unfortunately, the earliest Panthers first-round pick that is tradable is in 2031. But they do have four second-round picks and three third-round picks. And to make this deal work, they will need to part with three to four of those picks.
In a perfect world, the Red Wings would push to get both Lundell and Luostarinen, along with as many draft picks as possible, even if it's two seconds and two third-round picks. It would allow the Red Wings to get two top-six forwards as well as future assets that they could flip if they can turn things around.
Plus, if Florida gave up Lundell and Luostarinen, they'd only need to clear $700k to fit Larkin into their salary cap when Barkov and Marchand return. If they agree to part with four picks, the Red Wings could be willing to retain $1.5-2 million per season to give them some breathing room.
It may sound far-fetched, but right now the Panthers are in more of a bind than the Red Wings are, despite the drama that is surrounding the organization. If the Panthers want to fill the top-line center role, then Larkin is their guy. Yes, it'll cost a lot, but he is a true number one center and would fit well with their roster.
For the Red Wings, if they can get a deal like this done for Larkin and then find a new home for Simon Edvinsson and bring in a big trade package like this one. It would help them retool their roster and get back to competing, rather than a full-on rebuild.
Add us as a preferred source on Google