Dylan Larkin is fed up. And after years of watching the Red Wings miss the playoffs, he has asked out of Detroit. According to Nick Kypreos of SportsNet, Larkin gave the Wings a three-team list of preferred destinations, and the front office asked him to expand it. That list now reportedly includes the Dallas Stars, and Larkin’s preference is clear: he wants to go to Dallas.
Larkin still has multiple years left on his contract and a full no-trade clause, which gives him real leverage. But general manager Steve Yzerman also has leverage of his own. Kypreos wrote that Yzerman won’t move Larkin if he feels pressured, and that the Red Wings will look for a deal that works for them, not just for Larkin. That’s where things get interesting.
The Stars Already Have a Big Problem to Solve
Dallas has a restricted free agent in Jason Robertson who might be on the move. Robertson is exactly the kind of young, consistent scorer the Wings would love to build around. He’s 25 years old and has posted 25-plus goals in each of the last five seasons, with every one of those years featuring 20-plus even-strength goals. Trading Robertson straight up for Larkin doesn’t make sense for Dallas though. Larkin has hit 30 goals each of the last five seasons, but he only crossed 20 even-strength goals twice in that span. The Stars need a bigger vision.
That bigger vision could start in Columbus. Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman recently floated the idea that Dallas is interested in Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski. Friedman specifically mentioned that if Columbus were to trade Werenski, a return centered around Thomas Harley would be hard to beat. Harley is a promising young defenseman, but Werenski is one of the NHL’s best blue-liners. A straight Harley-for-Werenski swap would favor Dallas. But the Stars could get creative.
The Three-Way Puzzle That Could Work
Here’s where the trade tree gets complicated, but possible. The Stars could send Robertson and Harley to Columbus in exchange for Kirill Marchenko, Werenski, plus some draft picks and a prospect. That move solves Dallas’s Robertson situation, replenishes some of the draft capital they’re missing, and adds a top-tier defenseman. Then the Stars flip Marchenko to Detroit for Larkin.
Marchenko is 26 years old and has averaged 29 goals and 41.5 assists over the last two seasons. Larkin is 29 and has averaged 32 goals and 38.8 assists per year over the last five. So the Red Wings would be giving up about three goals per season and a longer track record for a younger player who dishes out a few more assists. Marchenko is under contract for $3.85 million next season and then becomes a restricted free agent. He’s projected to need around $9 million per year, just $300,000 more than Larkin makes now. A cap-friendly swap, basically.
Yzerman might push for a sweetener to make that deal more palatable. But the Stars could include a lower-level prospect or an extra draft pick from the Columbus trade to get it done. The net result for Dallas: they move Robertson and Harley but bring back Larkin, Werenski, and some draft capital. Larkin and Werenski are longtime friends, which doesn’t hurt. And the Stars keep prospect Mavrick Borque in the mix. For a team that needs to get younger on defense and add a proven center, this could be the kind of roster renovation that changes the Western Conference picture.
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