- Pagnotta says Montreal would trade for Dylan Larkin if he agrees to go
- Larkin and his family are still saying no to the Canadiens
- Read below for the cap issue and where Horcoff says things stand
The Canadiens are ready to trade for Dylan Larkin. Larkin just isn’t ready to go to Montreal.
That’s the word from Daily Faceoff’s David Pagnotta, who talked Wednesday about why a Larkin deal still hasn’t happened. He says Montreal is willing to act, and the holdup is the player.
Pagnotta explained what he has heard on Daily Faceoff LIVE:
“If he says yes, and him and his family say yes to Montreal, I mean I have it on pretty good standing that he’ll be a Hab a few hours later. They are ready to pull the trigger on a move for Larkin. It’s just up to him and his family as to whether or not they want to go to Montreal, and, so far, the answer is still no.”
Catch the full segment here:
Larkin asked Detroit for a trade in June. His original list had three teams, the Golden Knights, Panthers and Wild, and it has since grown to eight or nine. Nobody has pulled it off yet.
Cap space is the other problem. Pagnotta pointed out that the teams Larkin is willing to join mostly don’t have the room, and his $8.7 million cap hit doesn’t go away in a trade. He named Washington, Colorado and Minnesota as examples.
Pagnotta called it “a complicated situation unless he expands his list even more.” He can’t imagine Larkin wanting to play out the season in Detroit.
Detroit interim GM Shawn Horcoff gave no hint of movement Wednesday. He called the Larkin situation “status quo” and declined to elaborate “out of respect for Dylan and his camp,” NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika reported.
Ted Kulfan shared the same update from Horcoff’s media session:
Larkin lost the captaincy before the season and missed the first two games with a back injury. He has one goal and one assist through four games, and Detroit sits at 1-3-2 after Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to New Jersey.
The Red Wings did lock up Alex DeBrincat on a seven-year extension and say they won’t trade Simon Edvinsson, which leaves Larkin as the open question on the roster.
Until he adds Montreal or another team with cap room, Horcoff is left waiting for a creative deal.
