Chris Johnston's stunning Dylan Larkin update has just changed everything this offseason
Photo credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
Chris Johnston says Dylan Larkin could open camp as a Red Wing.
The reason runs through a draft-day deal Detroit made five years ago.
Detroit will not move its captain just to end the noise, Johnston explained, and a September without a trade is now on the table.
"It might take more than that quite honestly...it would not surprise me if you and I take a little break for the summer here and we fire up the podcast first week of September and Dylan Larkin is still a member of the Detroit Red Wings."
- Chris Johnston
- Chris Johnston
"The Red Wings are just not in a position where they're going to trade him to get rid of the headache or get rid of the storyline, the distraction, if you want to go that far."
- Chris Johnston
- Chris Johnston
That patience makes more sense once you see what Yzerman actually asked Dallas for. Detroit reportedly wanted Wyatt Johnston back in any Larkin deal, and the Stars said no in a hurry.
The pick Detroit handed Dallas
At the 2021 draft, Yzerman shipped picks 23, 48 and 138 to Dallas to climb up to 15 and grab goalie Sebastian Cossa. Dallas turned around and used that 23rd pick on Johnston.
It was classic Yzerman aggression, an eight-spot jump for his goalie of the future. On the night, with Cossa ranked among the top netminders available, the swap looked shrewd.
Cossa never stuck, playing one NHL game before Detroit flipped him to Utah last month for a first-round pick. Johnston, meanwhile, grew into a 45-goal, 86-point center who matched Jason Robertson for the Dallas team lead.
Why the ask was dead on arrival
So the player Detroit covets in a Larkin return is the exact asset its own trade-up let slip away. Jim Nill's Stars have no reason to sell it back.
It looks like Detroit holds all the leverage, in no rush to deal. Yet on the one comparable Yzerman himself values, a young top-six center, the market set the price in 2021.
That is the real gap behind the cooled-off buzz, not simply Larkin's $8.7 million cap hit or his no-trade clause. Detroit is trying to buy back a miss using its franchise center as the currency.
Larkin turns 30 on July 30 and just posted 34 goals for a club stuck on 10 straight seasons without playoffs.
If the Johnston-sized ask holds, matching offers never come, and Yzerman keeps his captain by default.
Also read on House Of Hockey :
Elias Pettersson's trade price revealed and things have hit rock bottom
Elias Pettersson's trade price revealed and things have hit rock bottom