Dylan Larkin sits at the center of the 2026 NHL offseason's first big storyline after he formally asked Detroit for a trade last week.
Detroit's captain holds complete no-trade protection and stirred the pot further when word got out that he'd handed over a list naming just three clubs he'd green-light a move to. That picture now looks to be changing: per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, GM Steve Yzerman met with the center's agent, Pat Brisson, and appears to have made some ground on widening the roster of acceptable landing spots.
As LeBrun tells it, Yzerman returned to the agent with a request to lengthen the initial three-team slate, and his read was that Brisson showed at least some openness to it. The upshot, in LeBrun's view, is that the field no longer looks limited to just Florida, Minnesota, and Vegas.
Five seasons are left on Larkin's eight-year pact, valued at $69.6 million with an $8.7 million annual cap charge, which he put his name to in Detroit during 2022-23. This past year he tallied across 74 outings a 67-point line on 34 goals and 33 assists, the fifth season in a row he has cleared 30 goals.
Detroit's captain has appeared in only five postseason games his entire career, each coming as his debut 2015-16 season wound down. The drought of forward momentum since is believed to have nudged the Michigan native toward parting with the club he grew up rooting for.
Past that trio of contenders, talk has surfaced suggesting the center could be open to folding in clubs like Dallas and Tampa Bay among his preferences. Several more — Montreal's Canadiens, Carolina, Philadelphia, and the Kings of Los Angeles — have reportedly shown some interest too, though those may not be landing spots Larkin favors.
LeBrun further speculates that Detroit could look to loop a third club into any deal so the return on Larkin lines up more closely with his actual worth. The clubs floated as suitors so far are all title hopefuls and lack the sort of premium future capital that various other organizations can offer.
With the league's free-agent pool shaping up to be remarkably thin, Larkin figures to rank among the offseason's most coveted names.