A bombshell in the NHL was dropped Thursday afternoon as it was made known by Elliotte Friedman in a solo article that Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has requested a trade out of Detroit after just 10 seasons with the team that drafted him.
What makes Larkin want out of the Detroit is very simple to understand, in his ten seasons in the NHL and with the Red Wings, he has seen playoff hockey just once which was in his rookie year in 2015-2016 which saw them getting bounced in five games by Tampa Bay. He has been so close to playoff hockey but is apart of Red Wings teams that fail to get the job done year in and year out.
Larkin is very familiar with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Larkin in his 28 career meetings with the Penguins, has 11 goals, 17 assists and a plus-minus of -6. Most of those games have had massive playoff implications.
Larkin in his 10 seasons in the NHL has notched six 30 or more goal seasons, five of those six 30 goal seasons have been five consecutive one's dating from the 2021-22 season to 2025-26. He is a consistent 60-70 point player every season and would add more firepower to the Penguins organization.
Dylan Larkin has four years remaining on his eight year deal at a cap hit of $8,700,000 which would match up with Sidney Crosby's contract and allow for even more money to be spent if Larkin were to be acquired.
In terms of what Dylan Larkin and the Penguins have in common is a desire to make the playoffs and go win a Stanley Cup. Where the Penguins are at right now and the assets that have been acquired over the past couple of years now could come into play with a player of Larkin's stature and recent gold medal win available to be acquired.
Dylan Larkin is set to fetch a Jack Eichel esque return which resulted in Alex Tuch, Payton Krebs, a 1st and 2nd round pick being sent the other way. Pittsburgh has those type of assets to move in terms of the picks, prospect and impact roster forward. Your comparison for a trade could involve a player like Bryan Rust going the other way.
With Evgeni Malkin now being a permanent winger allows for the chance to acquire a legitimate impact second line centre like Larkin that this team desperately needs in order to one, be successful and secondly, compete at the high playoff intensity level.
One thing of note is that Larkin is not a young puppy and will be turning 30 at the end of July. You also have to look at the fact that with Carolina acquiring a guy like Nik Ehlers in last years free agency at 29 and having such a massive impact in the Stanley Cup Finals and playoffs as he is now, shows you need that mix of veteran presence in order to balance out the youth in your lineup.
Acquiring Larkin would allow for the Penguins to compete and acquire just one of many impact players that Kyle Dubas is looking for this off-season. Him and Egor Chinakhov would be a threat together.
Keep an eye on what happens with the trade saga. Kyle Dubas should try at least have his paws on this to gauge what it would take.
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