Poll: Which Team Will Acquire Dylan Larkin?

The summer trade market got a major injection last week, with the captain of the Detroit Red Wings, Dylan Larkin, requesting a trade from the team. Given how many teams are searching for a top-six center, Larkin immediately became the top available trade target. However, thanks to the full no-trade clause in his contract, Larkin controls his destiny for the most part, and notified the Red Wings that he would only be open to a trade to the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, or Vegas Golden Knights.

The trickiest part of a hypothetical Larkin trade is what the Red Wings would want. Despite missing the playoffs the last three years, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The team is eager to jump into their competitive window, so they will likely want NHL-ready players in return. Given that all three teams on Larkin’s list are not only in their competitive windows but legitimate Stanley Cup threats, it doesn’t make a ton of sense for them to trade off their roster either, so the Red Wings may have to settle for future assets or a mixture of both.

Assuming everyone is healthy to begin the 2026-27 campaign, the Panthers have little need for Larkin. They may still want him, but if Florida is going to target anything this summer, it’ll be goaltending. The Panthers already have a relatively deep center corps with Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, and Anton Lundell at the top of the hierarchy. However, compared to the Wild and Golden Knights, the Panthers have much more cap space to work with.

Florida could dangle the eighth overall pick of the 2026 NHL Draft, but it has very little to offer outside of that. It’s well known that the Panthers have the worst farm system in the NHL, so it’s unlikely the Red Wings would be interested in any prospect capital. Additionally, given that they’re in the same division, Detroit will be competing with the Panthers for a postseason spot next season, so Florida would have to overpay more than the Wild or Golden Knights. The Red Wings may aim for the Panthers to include Eetu Luostarinen and/or Niko Mikkola with the eighth overall pick, but Florida will have little appetite to move them after the injury concerns from the 2025-26 season.

Meanwhile, of all three clubs, the Wild have the biggest need for a top-six center. It was evident during the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs that this was a significant factor in their inability to advance beyond Round Two. In a recent article from Joe Smith of The Athletic, he speculated that Minnesota could offer Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel in a hypothetical trade for Larkin, but have little else to offer beyond that. The team traded some of their most enticing capital for Quinn Hughes and doesn’t have a ton left to add another All-Star talent.

However, the Wild’s potential offer to the Red Wings isn’t necessarily dead on arrival. Minnesota still has its 2027 first-round pick, although it’s expected to fall well outside of the lottery range. Would it make sense for Minnesota to offer Jonas Brodin, as well? He hasn’t completed a full season in seven years, so the team has learned to operate without him by now. Furthermore, his contract does not include any trade protection, and his $6MM salary would help create some cap space for other acquisitions this summer.

Lastly, like the Wild, the Golden Knights will have some salary cap hurdles to overcome. Still, that’s never stopped them before. Currently embroiled in a tightly contested Stanley Cup Final with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Golden Knights will enter the summer with approximately $4.625MM in space, and that’s without factoring in a possible extension for Rasmus Andersson.

Given that they don’t have a pick in the first two rounds until the 2028 NHL Draft, Vegas will undoubtedly have to include prospect Trevor Connelly in any hypothetical deal for Larkin, as well as players on their roster. Unfortunately, the Golden Knights don’t have many players without trade protection in their contracts, and it wouldn’t make a ton of sense for a player to greenlight a trade to Detroit after playing in the Stanley Cup Final.

Another possibility is that Larkin ultimately remains with the Red Wings. General Manager Steve Yzerman isn’t afraid to play hardball, as he did with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Jonathan Drouin many moons ago. As much as Larkin can pick where he goes due to the no-trade clause, he’s still contractually committed to Detroit through the 2030-31 season. It’s highly unlikely that Yzerman will be bullied into a bad deal, so if Larkin doesn’t expand his list, or Detroit doesn’t get an offer to their liking, they may tell Larkin they can’t wait to see him in Traverse City for training camp in September.

Now it’s time for you to pick: will Larkin be on one of the three teams on his trade list come next season, be on a different organization than those he originally listed, or with the Red Wings? Vote below!