Evaluating 9 Trade Offers for Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin – The Hockey Writers –

On Monday, Detroit Red Wings beat writer Helene St. James reported that there are three teams on Dylan Larkin’s trade list, which are believed to be the Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights, and Florida Panthers. Clearly, Larkin wants to play for a win-now team.

Other teams have reached out about Larkin and more are expected to do so in the coming days. Given this, I worked with several colleagues from The Hockey Writers to put together mock trade proposals for Detroit’s captain. Here’s where we landed.

Red Wings Have 9 Mock Trade Offers to Consider

Minnesota Wild

Offer (via Mariah Stark): C Ryan Hartman, C/RW Danila Yurov, C Charlie Stramel, and a 2027 first-round pick.

Analysis: Perhaps the front-runner to acquire Larkin, the Minnesota Wild are seeking a 1C this offseason and would reunite Larkin with Team USA’s Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber, and GM Bill Guerin. There’s something for now (Hartman and Yurov), in the near future (Stramel), and later (draft pick) included in this trade package. Plus, Hartman could potentially be flipped at the trade deadline for additional assets. Stramel has the most upside, but likely isn’t a 1C at his peak.

Vegas Golden Knights

Offer: C Tomas Hertl, RW Braedon Bowman, and LW Trevor Connelly.

Analysis: Suffice to say, Vegas doesn’t have much to part with after spending most of their premium future assets on Hertl, Noah Hanifin, and Rasmus Andersson. In this proposal, Hertl could (over)slot into a 1C role immediately, with Bowman skating in the bottom six. Connelly could turn into a top-six forward, too. The only hang-up here is if Hertl would be willing to waive his no-movement clause to join the Red Wings.

Florida Panthers

Offer: LW Eetu Luostarinen, C Gracyn Sawchyn, and the No. 9 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Analysis: The value here lies in the No. 9 pick, where the Red Wings could draft someone like Tynan Lawrence, Viggo Bjorck, or an impact defenseman. Bjorck established chemistry with Lucas Raymond at the World Championship – could that carry over to the NHL? His small stature may concern teams, though. Luostarinen certainly makes the Red Wings harder to play against, but has somewhat limited offensive upside.

Ottawa Senators

Offer (via Jacob Billington): C Ridley Greig, RD Logan Hensler, 2027 first-round pick (top-10 protected), and a 2028 first-round pick.

Analysis: While not on Larkin’s approved trade list, Ottawa could pitch playoff hockey and joining Team USA teammates Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson as incentives to accept a trade to the Senators. The offer doesn’t help Detroit much in the near term, though. Greig is more of a middle-six center and doesn’t appear to have another gear to consistently play higher in the lineup.

St. Louis Blues

Offer (via Andrew Willis): LW Jordan Kyrou and the No. 15 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Analysis: An intriguing offer to say the least. Kyrou turned 28 last month and is signed through 2031. He had a down 2025-26 season, which begs the question: is Kyrou still a 70-point player? Getting back the 15th-overall pick is salt in the wound. Still, it serves as an opportunity to build for the future, whether that’s drafting another prospect or moving it elsewhere for a top-six NHLer.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Offer (via Harrison Smajovits): C Nick Paul, C Conor Geekie, 2028 first-round pick, 2026 third-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick.

Analysis: I pushed hard for Sam O’Reilly, but Harrison held firm that he was not available. The offer above was the best the Lightning could do. Geekie could be top-six center down the road, but that’s about it in terms of upside. The first-round pick will likely be toward the end of the round and Paul is a no-nonsense middle-six contributor.

Washington Capitals

Offer (via Christopher Babos): C Connor McMichael, LW Lynden Lakovic, and the No. 16 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Analysis: Another intriguing offer, this time with assets that can help now, in the near future, and down the road. McMichael tops out as a 2C and Lakovic oozes potential as a heavy, mobile goal-scoring wing. He was limited to 22 games this season in the WHL, but managed to score 18 goals during that span. Detroit could grab a talented player at No. 16, too, whether that’s LD Malte Gustafsson, C Alex Command, or LW Wyatt Cullen.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Offer (via Mark Scheig): C/RW Kent Johnson, LW Dmitri Voronkov, the No. 14 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, and a conditional 2027 second-round pick that upgrades to a first if the Blue Jackets reach the second round of the 2027 playoffs.

Analysis: I like this offer a lot. Detroit buys low on Johnson and Voronkov after they struggled a bit in 2025-26 and gets a solid first-round pick in this year’s draft (plus another pick next year). Both players fit into the Raymond-Seider core from an age perspective and have plenty of prime years ahead of them. If Johnson can stick at center, this could be a win-win. Columbus would just need to convince Larkin that, while they aren’t a win-now team, skating alongside friend Zach Werenski could push them over the top.

Carolina Hurricanes

Offer (via Zach Martin): C Jesperi Kotkaniemi, RW Felix Unger Sorum, 2027 first-round pick, and a 2028 first-round pick (originally belonging to Dallas).

Analysis: Not the strongest offer, but one to consider. The value lies in the two first-round picks – more opportunities to bolster the future. Kotkaniemi could, in theory, make the Red Wings harder to play against in a bottom-six role and Unger Sorum has middle-six upside. I pushed for Logan Stankhoven, but he was off limits.

Recommended Red Wings Decision

Of the offers listed above, I prefer Columbus’ trade package. Johnson, Voronkov, and the draft picks are a great return for Larkin. The only issue is convincing Larkin to expand his trade list to include the Blue Jackets. That said, they do have a solid core in place with Werenski, Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, and Jet Greaves.

If Larkin holds firm on the three-team trade list, Minnesota and Florida have the best offers – the Wild for the volume and the Panthers for the draft pick. Minnesota gets the tiebreaker, though, as it’s preferable to move Larkin outside of the Atlantic Division – unless, say, Anton Lundell is part of Florida’s trade package.

Back to Minnesota – I would hold out for more than what’s in the mock trade offer. Larkin is exactly what Guerin is looking for and there aren’t very many alternatives out there. Detroit is dealing their franchise player, after all.

Lastly, in addition to the teams mentioned above, I can see the Los Angeles Kings, Utah Mammoth, Seattle Kraken, Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, and Anaheim Ducks reaching out to the Red Wings about Dylan Larkin.