Steve Yzerman's imminent plan for Dylan Larkin comes out and it's a tough pill to swallow
Photo credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
The framing is Yzerman holding the line: Emily Kaplan reports Detroit will get its price, and the camp threat is how he enforces it.
One detail in that framing is doing a lot of hidden work.
Larkin holds a full no-trade clause through next season, and when his trade request surfaced, he had approved only three destinations: Florida, Minnesota, and Vegas.
The market Yzerman is trying to maximize started as a three-team auction, and that changes what a king's ransom actually looks like.
That's not a minor footnote. Multiple first-round picks and younger players - Kaplan's stated price - requires a genuine bidding war, and three teams who know they're the only option don't drive that kind of return.
Pierre LeBrun reported that Yzerman went back to Larkin's camp and asked to expand that list, and agent Pat Brisson was reportedly receptive to it.
That negotiation - the list itself - matters more right now than the price Yzerman is publicly holding out for.
Why the approved list is the real lever in this deal
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported San Jose, Dallas, Utah, and Philadelphia as teams showing interest in Larkin.
If even two or three of them make Larkin's approved list, Yzerman's leverage multiplies and the price Kaplan is describing becomes achievable.
Kaplan's reporting that Yzerman will bring Larkin to camp if necessary is credible, and the patience is exactly the right posture.
A 34-goal captain on an $8.7 million deal commands this kind of patience.
The camp threat depends on a decision Larkin still has to make
Yzerman controls the price. Larkin controls the market, and that second part is the variable nobody is tracking as the real lead.
The camp threat is leverage only if Larkin is willing to make the market competitive enough for it to matter.
Until that approved list grows, the headlines about Yzerman's patience are missing who is holding the most important card in this trade.
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