Dylan Larkin Added the Stars to His Trade List. Dallas Wants Nothing to Do With It.

Dylan Larkin’s trade saga took another small step forward on Thursday, but the way things are going, it might be a while before it turns into anything real.

The Detroit Red Wings captain reportedly added the Dallas Stars to his list of preferred destinations. That makes four teams now, up from three after the Stars joined the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights. So it’s movement, but barely. One team. And it came with a pretty big catch.

According to Ansar Khan of MLive, the Red Wings did talk to Dallas. And they asked about Wyatt Johnston. Specifically, they wanted the Stars’ young center as the centerpiece of a Larkin deal. That went about as well as you’d expect.

Khan wrote: “The Red Wings had talks with the Stars and according to a league source asked for young center Wyatt Johnston in return. It doesn’t hurt to ask, but there was no chance of that happening.”

No kidding. Johnston just put up 45 goals and 86 points in the 2025-26 season. He’s 23 years old. He’s never missed a game in four NHL seasons. And in the playoffs, he’s been even better — six points in six games this spring after piling up 26 combined points during Dallas’ back-to-back runs to the Western Conference Final in 2024 and 2025.

Johnston is basically the kind of player you build around. Not the kind you trade for a 29-year-old captain who may or may not re-sign wherever he goes. Larkin is seven years older and has one year left on his deal. That gap in value is huge.

For Dallas to even consider moving Johnston, it would take more than just Larkin. Probably Larkin plus something significant going back the other way. And even then, it’s hard to see the Stars pulling the trigger.

So Steve Yzerman is stuck. He’s talked to Florida, Minnesota and Vegas. None of those teams have made an offer that makes it worth trading his captain. And now Dallas is in the mix, but only in theory. They’re not giving up their best young player.

Just a few days ago, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reported that Larkin hadn’t expanded his list at all. Now he has, which tells you something. Maybe he’s open to more options than he originally let on. Maybe as the summer drags on, he gets even more flexible.

But here’s the thing. The relationship between Larkin and the Red Wings is clearly damaged. It’s hard to see him staying in Detroit long-term at this point. A fresh start somewhere else probably makes sense for everyone.

For now, Larkin is still one of the biggest names floating around the rumor mill. But until someone actually makes Yzerman an offer he can live with, that’s where this story stays. In the rumor mill.