According to a report by Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin wants to be traded to one of three teams. Those include the Florida Panthers, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Minnesota Wild. It was reported by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic that Larkin’s list was short in destinations he wanted to go to.
LeBrun had originally speculated in his rumblings that Larkin would have nearly half the league inquiring about the services of the 29-year-old forward, who turns 30 on July 30th. The Waterford, MI native finished his 2025-26 season scoring 67 points in 74 games and had a +3 rating. After 11 seasons with the Red Wings, they have not made the playoffs for ten straight. Larkin has only played five career games in the postseason, which came in his rookie year of 2015-16. He has five years left on an eight-year contract at an $8.7MM cap hit, which will pay him until he is 34 years old in 2031. He holds a full no-trade clause for the next 2 seasons, then becomes a 10-team trade list.
Here is a look at the three teams situationally and the potential package each club could pony up to get Larkin on their roster:
1. Florida Panthers
The Panthers finished the 2025-26 season far off from their usual Stanley Cup-contending ways, ending the year seventh in the Atlantic division after five straight seasons with 90+ points and three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances. Instead, their end-of-season prize awarded them with the ninth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, which could be a huge kickstart for their prospect pool, or it could be a key asset dealt to the Red Wings for a win-now center like Larkin.
Along with that first-round pick, the Panthers could also include younger players on their roster to package a deal for Larkin, who spent February in Italy with Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk, winning a gold medal at the 2026 Olympics with the star winger. Tkachuk was traded from the Calgary Flames to the Panthers after informing them he wanted to go elsewhere in a large package deal. Similarly, Florida would need to send a hefty package considering the proximity of dealing with a division opponent. Perhaps forwards Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, or the rights for restricted free agent Mackie Samoskevich could be names within this deal, along with the draft pick.
2. Vegas Golden Knights
Another team that is consistently contending for the Stanley Cup, so much so, they’re actively in their third final in just nine seasons as an NHL franchise. Vegas has demonstrated nearly 100% of the time that it does not care what it takes to win, making several trades to acquire top talent. As first reported by David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, he wondered if the Golden Knights would be a spot, and it appears they are.
Regarding more Olympic connections, Jack Eichel, the former No. 2 overall pick by Buffalo, was dealt to Vegas from the Sabres in a blockbuster deal. The Golden Knights are tight against the cap in 2026-27, with just a little over $4MM in space to work with a few free agents at season’s end, including standout goal scorer Pavel Dorofeyev, an RFA. Two questions come to mind in Vegas’s end: what contracts would Detroit take back to help Vegas offset the cap hit? And do they have enough in their short list of prospects, like Trevor Connelly or a later first-round pick in 2028 or 2029, that would add enough value?
3. Minnesota Wild
There are quite a few gold medal connections in the State of Hockey, including a chance to make history for the 25-year-old franchise to bring the Stanley Cup to Minnesota. Larkin is familiar with Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber, all of whom were key parts of bringing the U.S. the gold in Milan via GM Bill Guerin assembling such players together. Guerin has also demonstrated his yearning to build the Wild’s first cup-winning team, emerging victorious in the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes, whom he pulled out from Vancouver.
Minnesota saw difficulties in their Center depth this past playoffs, and adding Larkin would prove worthwhile to supplement the services of Joel Eriksson Ek down the middle. The Wild have a deeper pool of prospects and draft picks to send Steve Yzerman‘s way if an agreement is to be settled between these two teams. Perhaps a goalie swap could occur here, too, if Minnesota wanted to exchange one of its two goaltenders, either Filip Gustavsson or Jesper Wallstedt, for Sebastian Cossa.
Photo Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
The wild!👀
It would be great but I don’t think they have enough to give and it doesn’t make sense since their roster is so young and can develop more on its own.
They might be able to give more than Florida or Vegas
Of course he wants to go to 3 teams that have no Cap room. He isn’t a Mensa member is he?
Minnesota seems like the most obvious fit to me. Vegas only really makes sense if they can manage to make some cap space and Florida doesn’t really have the assets unless they’re willing to give up Lundell and their first rounder this year… that’s a big ask. Maybe Lundell, Samoskevich and the 6th overall pick?
Would the #9 pick be enough? Too much? Throw in Samoskevich?
Yzerman should tell him to expand the list or pound sand
Exactly. Yzerman should only trade him if he gets good value and positions of need. Otherwise, report to camp in September!
Screw that! Send him to KHL
Why, because he is sick of playing for a loser team that refuses to get rid of pathetic Yzerman?
Lundell is younger, cheaper, and better than Larkin. Panthers aren’t trading baby Barkov.
Lundell matched his career high in goals at 18 this year. He is not better than Larkin, he is younger though.
Neither of the 3 teams really has a cap room to accommodate Larkin, so a big enough contract would need to go the other way. But just about every big contract player has trade protection. The only realistic option would be Brodin who has no trade protection, but why would Detroit want a 32-yo who is struggling to play 60 games a year?
Seems to be a non-starter.
Carolina?
After reading the article, it appears to lack credibility in its reporting and comes across more as an opinion piece. Additionally, the sources of this speculation, Pierre LeBrun & Helena St. James, have both been unreliable in providing accurate “insider” information over the course (especially LeBrun). I’m taking this whole article with a grain of salt IMO.
If this article holds any truth, Vegas and Florida have other priorities on their roster to address, and Larkin isn’t the solution to those concerns. Among the options on this “alleged” list, Minnesota appears to be the most logical choice which is where I thought he would go in the first place.