What would you trade Larkin for... a thought exercise

[Rzombo4 prez]

If Larkin came to you tomorrow demanding an immediate trade, what specifically would you realistically hope to get in return for him?

 

[JediOrderPizza]

A young center with upside like a Byfield, McTavish or Beniers, or a really good center prospect+. Maybe such as a Lindstrom or Catton.

I'm gonna guess they wouldn't be able to land that.

 

[izlez]

Realistically, I would remind him that he is signed to a contract and go back to eating my lunch

 

[Run the Jewels]

He's under team control for a long time, so the team that is acquiring him isn't getting a rental. I mused on the general boards that Buffalo would theoretically be a good trade partner as they need plug and play center depth and he'd fill that need immediately and well for the next 6 years.

At a bare minimum, I'd want their first in this draft. That looks like it will be right around the #5OA pick. That would give you a shot to get a high quality center prospect.

I'd see if I could also get a prospect at center from them, someone like maybe Noah Östlund. He seems to be B prospect for them, projecting as a middle 6 pivot with a bit of skill.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Realistically, I would remind him that he is signed to a contract and go back to eating my lunch

Thanks Uncle Lou...

 

[RedHawkDown]

If it comes to that, a team with a young C that hasn't hit their stride yet but the rest of the team is in contending mode would be the target. So someone like Byfield in LA.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

If it comes to that, a team with a young C that hasn't hit their stride yet but the rest of the team is in contending mode would be the target. So someone like Byfield in LA.

Would you consider Yurov?

 

[RedHawkDown]

Would you consider Yurov?

Well he's a RW so not really. not really sold on him regardless.

rossi + yurov could be a package to target in minnesota though.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Well he's a RW so not really. not really sold on him regardless.

rossi + yurov could be a package to target in minnesota though.

Am I wrong in thinking he played center this year?

I think we could get one of those two but probably not both. MN does seem to be a team that could definitely use a Larkin at this point.

 

[norrisnick]

Get with Nill to figure out what would work for Johnston or contact Verbeek and ditto for Carlsson. I wouldn't entertain anything centered around a pick or a prospect that hasn't hit the show yet. That's too many steps back. And yes, I would add to make something work. But any trade that's too unfavorable isn't going to happen and I'd point at the NMC that Dylan negotiated.

 

[SirloinUB]

I don’t want to see Larkin traded and I don’t think he will be.

I do think it’s reasonable to discuss whether it makes sense to trade him. It would have to be an excellent package though. At least 3 top end pieces.

 

[RedHawkDown]

Get with Nill to figure out what would work for Johnston or contact Verbeek and ditto for Carlsson. I wouldn't entertain anything centered around a pick or a prospect that hasn't hit the show yet. That's too many steps back. And yes, I would add to make something work. But any trade that's too unfavorable isn't going to happen and I'd point at the NMC that Dylan negotiated.

Well Johnston is better than Larkin now and he's 8 years younger so I have no idea why Nill would ever do that. It would take Larkin + Kasper and I'm pretty sure they still say no easily.

Carlsson has turned it on the 2nd half of this season and again makes no sense for a young Anaheim team that is seeing that elite core grow together. Carlsson/McTavish/Sennecke/Terry/Gauthier + LaCombe/Solberg/Mintuykov/Zellweger is a phenomenal group of forwards + defense. They have zero reason to do that kind of trade.

It has to be a team like Minnesota, LA, Washington etc that has a young center player that hasn't quite broken out OR a top-end center prospect and they could use a more formed product in Larkin for a playoff run. Kind of like the Nick Suzuki trade.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

I don’t want to see Larkin traded and I don’t think he will be.

I do think it’s reasonable to discuss whether it makes sense to trade him. It would have to be an excellent package though. At least 3 top end pieces.

Even though we clearly need a shakeup, I don't think it is something we should necessarily try to do because it is really hard to get equal value back. I also, however, feel it is naive to think Larkin will be cool with his season ending in April forever. If things don't improve, at some point he will ask to be moved to a bona fide playoff team or contender.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Realistically, a 1st, a mid six center and a blue chip prospect. That seems to be the going rate for players of Larkin’s caliber.

I can’t think of a single trade where the team trading the better player won the trade, though.

 

[Winger98]

Even though we clearly need a shakeup, I don't think it is something we should necessarily try to do because it is really hard to get equal value back. I also, however, feel it is naive to think Larkin will be cool with his season ending in April forever. If things don't improve, at some point he will ask to be moved to a bona fide playoff team or contender.

Bingo. What I would trade him for and what we could get for him are just different things. We're not going to get a version of him that's 5+ years younger. We are almost certainly not getting equal value back. We're probably getting a mid-to-top6 player, a good but not great prospect, and picks.

Our best case scenarios are probably either of the Buffalo scenarios for what they got back from Eichel or ROR. And Tage Thompson does look good now but when he was dealt he was a massive lotto ticket. So, we'd be likely to have to assume a good chunk of risk for that type of return.

 

[Frk It]

I don’t want to see him traded.

That said, I do want to be aggressive this off-season, and one guy I would heavily pursue is Byram. I think he would round out the top 4 perfectly and could help cement our top 4 as one of the best in the league for the next decade. Ideally I’d like to find a way to add him without giving up Larkin.

But if Yzerman decided to do something centered around a Larkin for Byram swap, I could potentially be ok with it.

 

[norrisnick]

Time to take this thought experiment somewhere totally crazy.

Next CBA NTCs and NMCs should get assigned monetary value tied to the AAV of the contract. Be it 10% AAV for a NTC and 20% AAV for a NMC. Numbers can be whatever, but clauses and contracts should have some meaning behind them. What this means is...

If two teams work out a trade and ask a player to rescind his trade protection he gets a bump in AAV. This will function similarly to retention for the team trading him away.

If a player with an NTC or NMC requests a trade, he loses a similar amount in AAV.

People hand wave away trades with clauses involved as just business. Well... business costs money.

1. This will likely curb the likes of Justin Holl getting trade protection
2. Likely reduce movement of players that negotiated trade protection.
3. In the event that a core player does want out, a drop in AAV will help the team forced to move him recoup some of the loss. Teams would be willing to give more for a Larkin making $7M than making $8.7M

 

[Coach Reggie Dunlop]

It would have to be either centered around a top 4 d/top 4 d prospect. Or a young top 6 c/top c prospect. There’s absolutely no reason to trade him otherwise. But I do think there’s specific hauls that if we traded larkin for would make us better for 10 years but would hurt in the short term. So it depends on what you value.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Given the lack of center depth it's hard for me to imagine a scenario where the Wings trade Larkin and end up with a better team overall.

 

[deca guard]

1- rebuilding teams need a leader to start the march , larkins perfect at it . an all heart player with an all around game , and an excellent team voice / communicator . aint no one here to replace what he brings
2- larkin at 8 mil with new ceiling happening is a great great contract you wouldnt get near replacing
3- hes too valuable to this organizations future to be traded . him n d'cat are a palsy tandem that sets the tone for the younger crowd and keeps the room sparkling , his worth is far beyond his on ice production
4- there really isnt a notable trade for detroit to make right now unless its prospect/draft pick type deal
5- though if larkin demanded a trade i would only do a 1 for 1 for a younger player thats already to some extent proving self in nhl . but upon thinking of that i imagine larkin being gone and it becomes ugly

 

[Run the Jewels]

Given the lack of center depth it's hard for me to imagine a scenario where the Wings trade Larkin and end up with a better team overall.

In my hypothetical, you could possibly draft Anton Frondell, add Noah Östlund, and have Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson as your centers. No guarantee that any of them end up better than Larkin, but you'd have 4 guys all drafted between 5ish and 16th overall and all right around 19-20 years of age. They would all be in their prime when Mo, Ed and ASP are all in their prime.

Just following the most likely path in this thought experiment, e.g. we reset the rebuild to fit the prime ages of our best young players.

 

[dalem177]

I'd tell whoever-it-was to take off the Larkin mask and get back to the HFBoards where he belongs.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

In my hypothetical, you could possibly draft Anton Frondell, add Noah Östlund, and have Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson as your centers. No guarantee that any of them end up better than Larkin, but you'd have 4 guys all drafted between 5ish and 16th overall and all right around 19-20 years of age. They would all be in their prime when Mo, Ed and ASP are all in their prime.

Just following the most likely path in this thought experiment, e.g. we reset the rebuild to fit the prime ages of our best young players.

I'll have to take your word for it because I'm not familiar with those prospects, but I would be ecstatic if either Kasper or Danielson turned out to be better than Larkin.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I'll have to take your word for it because I'm not familiar with those prospects, but I would be ecstatic if either Kasper or Danielson turned out to be better than Larkin.

Frondell would likely have the best odds, as Corey Pronman thinks he has the potential to be a star number 1 center in the NHL.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

I don’t want to see him traded.

That said, I do want to be aggressive this off-season, and one guy I would heavily pursue is Byram. I think he would round out the top 4 perfectly and could help cement our top 4 as one of the best in the league for the next decade. Ideally I’d like to find a way to add him without giving up Larkin.

But if Yzerman decided to do something centered around a Larkin for Byram swap, I could potentially be ok with it.

I would take a run at Byram with an offer sheet or another trade, but I don't see him as a target in a Larkin trade. For my money you absolutely need a center or center prospect in the return. We are far, far stronger at defense (especially top of the lineup defense) than center. Holl and Chairot make us forget how good Seider and Ed are.