The latest on Dylan Larkin’s trade market, and how some experts believe the Flyers fit: ‘It’s probably the ideal spot for him’

Word began to spread like wildfire around the NHL scouting combine on June 4. It started as whispers and then grew to a roar as everyone caught wind of Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman’s report that Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin wanted a trade.

A week on from that report, here’s what we know.

Larkin is set to begin Year 4 of an eight-year contract he signed in March 2023, with a cap hit of $8.7 million. The contract makes his trade request sticky, as according to Puckpedia he has a full no-trade clause until July 1, 2028. At that time, it becomes a modified no-trade clause with a 10-team trade list.

On Tuesday, the Detroit Free Press reported that Larkin submitted three teams to general manager Steve Yzerman for which he was willing to waive his no-trade clause. The three teams — the Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, and Vegas Golden Knights — are all Stanley Cup contenders, with Vegas currently in the Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, and each team has some of his closest buddies on the roster.

Friedman added on his “32 Thoughts: The Podcast” on Wednesday that there are two more teams possibly in the running — Tampa Bay and Dallas — which are also considered 2026-27 Cup contenders.

Larkin grew up in the Detroit suburb of Waterford, Mich., played for the U.S. National Development Team in nearby Plymouth, and was drafted 15th overall in 2014 by his hometown team before heading to the University of Michigan for a season. Larkin has never played hockey outside of his home state, skating in 808 games and ranking 10th all-time in points (643) on a list littered with Hockey Hall of Famers like Gordie Howe, his general manager Yzerman, and Sergei Fedorov, for the winged-wheel club.

For the captain of the Red Wings, who will turn 30 at the end of July, maybe it’s time to leave the comforts of home? Or maybe it’s a breakup that has been brewing for some time.

Last year, Larkin hinted that he wasn’t too thrilled with how the trade deadline came and went without much action as the Red Wings were in the hunt for a playoff spot for the second straight year. “We didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kinda down about it,” Larkin told reporters last April. “It’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well.”

That came a little more than a year after his friend Tyler Bertuzzi was traded — Larkin had inked his extension the day before — and Larkin was visibly emotional when addressing the media. Frustration had to be mounting for Larkin, who enters the upcoming season with just one playoff appearance — as a rookie — in Detroit. But the GM put the onus on the players, stating at his end-of-season availability, “I’m counting on our best players, our leaders, to give us a bit of a morale boost. That’s what they’re paid for, and that’s the expectations for them.”

The relationship has officially gone cold. According to Elite Prospects reporter Sean Shapiro, who is based in Michigan, an agent recently told him that Larkin and the GM are not on the same page:

“They don’t speak unless they’ve had to, they haven’t for a while,” he quoted the agent. “That’s kind of become common knowledge about the situation in Detroit. Steve and Larkin coexisted, but they didn’t get along at all, and that’s kind of been known by others for a bit now.”

Larkin is a perennial 30-goal scorer, having hit the mark for the past five seasons and in six of his 11 NHL seasons. His 34 goals this past season would have landed atop the Flyers leaderboard, along with his 14 power-play goals — something the Flyers desperately need help with — and nine game-winners. His 67 points would have finished tied with Trevor Zegras for second, behind the 68 points Travis Konecny dropped.

And the best part? He’s a center — a No. 1 center.

“I think the thing about Dylan is that he is a bona fide, top-six center. He can be the number one center who — the rare thing about him is — that he really embraces the head-to-head shutdown role part of it,” Shapiro told The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine.

“... When Colorado comes to town, he wants the Nathan MacKinnon matchup, he wants the Connor McDavid matchup. And he’s one of the few players that has the foot speed to actually go into those battles and limit those guys. I think the reason he’s an $8.7 million player, and those guys are $12 million players, is because [while] he could be that offensive guy, he puts so much energy into kind of that defensive end.

“And I think that’s what makes him a little bit rare, is he’s someone who has that ability to be that offensive guy, but has kind of embraced more of that defensive role.”

Multiple sources have confirmed to The Inquirer that the Flyers are interested in the center. And why wouldn’t they be? He brings the speed, can attack down the middle of the ice, and has that scoring touch — and he could be put into that 1C spot — that the organization has desperately needed for years.

And as general manager Danny Brière told The Inquirer during the NHL scouting combine, they are searching high and low for that player.

“I think the greatest need is a top-six center,” he said. “And we have guys that have really stepped up; Trevor [Zegras] has played center at times, and he has the skill to play in that role.

“We’ve asked a lot out of Noah Cates, Christian Dvorak, and Sean Couturier to play some heavy minutes, and we’ve asked them to play in that role for a big part of the season. But looking at our team, that would probably be the one area that we could improve on.”

Larkin checks that box, whether as a 1C or, as Shapiro said, in a 1A/1B tandem where you run Larkin in a strength-on-strength system where he plays against the other team’s top lines. But the Flyers also need a game-changer. Is he that guy too?

“I think he can be,” Shapiro said in Buffalo. “I think we’ve seen it in stints in Detroit, and I thought last year at 4 Nations was a good example of — I know the US lost at 4 Nations — but he kind of was someone who raised his game in that big element, and then he was really good at the Olympics. He’s done it in those moments.

“I’ve always been curious about Dylan Larkin, just because we’ve only seen him play five playoff games in his career. He feels like he has kind of that ability that can break games in the playoffs, where you have those tight-checking chess-match games, and it’s a bit muddy, and everything like that, but he has that [ability] where he can break things open there.”

But there is also the timeline part. The Flyers are not a true Cup contender just yet and, as noted by the teams Larkin is picking, that’s a high priority for the center. He’s also set to be 30 and the Flyers youngsters, like rookies Porter Martone, Denver Barkey, and Oliver Bonk, are still raising their games. Would he be willing to wait?

“It’s funny because he is 29, but he’s never played a playoff game [since his rookie season]. His season has ended April 18 every single year for the last nine years,” Shapiro said. “I’m not going to pretend to know the physical limitations of age [but] I do think, for what is left on his current contract ... I think his game is still going to age well, because it’s not like he’s someone who’s played an extra 20 games in the playoffs.

“If you’re looking for a guy who’s a little bit older, who’s going to come in and set a bit of the tone of being willing to turn defense into offense, which is kind of my understanding of the way the Flyers want to do a lot of things, [then] yeah, Dylan is very open; that’s something that he’s all about. I think the fit is there stylistically. ... [And] I think for him the next fit is going to be somewhere where he doesn’t have to lead the marquee. ... If there’s talk about Philly, and you talk about a bunch of the guys they’re already trying to build around, and if he can be the third or fourth guy you mentioned, and you’re kind of building around this core, it’s probably the ideal spot for him.”

It doesn’t sound like Larkin agrees, but if the Flyers come with the right package, maybe he could be swayed? Shapiro thinks the package needs to include a combination of prospects — especially center depth — an NHL player, and draft picks.

Could that mean a Jett Luchanko or a Jack Nesbitt, who is off to play college hockey at Michigan in September? The Red Wings were reportedly interested in landing Rasmus Ristolainen at the trade deadline. And Detroit does not have a first-round pick this June after trading it to St. Louis for Justin Falk, so could the team take the Flyers’ top pick this year or that first-rounder they have from the Toronto Maple Leafs in either 2027 or 2028?

The free agent market is thinner than thin this year, especially when it comes to top-six centers, which is why acquiring someone via trade makes the most sense.

Yes, Claude Giroux and Scott Laughton are unrestricted free agents, but neither fit the top-six and would be short-term stopgaps — not the long-term projection the Flyers need; Giroux has also been playing wing in Ottawa.

But if they want to add depth, someone like Teddy Blueger, whom Flyers coach Rick Tocchet had in Vancouver, could be an option.

The other option is the good old offer sheet. Brière told The Inquirer an offer sheet is something the Flyers would consider, but “I would say it’s probably not likely with the cap going up; a lot of teams have extra dollars to spend.” If they do go that route, it needs to be done smartly, but options include centers Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli and his teammate Cole Sillinger, Cole Perfetti, Mavrik Bourque, and Kirby Dach.

If they go the trade route, Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues is the most obvious name out there, although recent reports suggest they are not planning on trading the centerman. Matty Beniers of the Kraken has also been mentioned, as has his teammate Shane Wright; however, The Inquirer has learned that Wright may not be considered a fit by the Flyers, and, per a league source, there is no indication that Beniers is available.

Mathew Barzal’s name has popped up, but sources say that is premature. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun has reported Auston Matthews is fine sticking around Toronto, and centers like Vincent Trocheck, Blake Coleman, and Nazem Kadri are all over 30 and do not fit the timeline.