UWSaint wrote: ↑Tue Jun 09, 2026 1:35 pm
Apparently Larkin is only willing to waive to 3 teams -- Vegas, Florida, and Minnesota. But I don't think there's confirmation of this rumor from Larkin or the Red Wings.
The rich get richer... But you know, there will be tradeoffs.
Florida $15M in cap space and no goaltenders....
Vegas has its handful from a cap perspective. $4.6M but can bank on AP's $8.8M on LTIR. That's 13.4M to work with with a number of low priority roster spots to fill except Dorfeyev. In a simple world, its go for Larkin and let Dorofeyev walk. But its Vegas, they could win the Cup and remake the team...
Which brings us to Minnesota....
I'm thinking that it might be Florida....
On Vegas.....
When you said: they could win the Cup and remake the team... I think that would be the most prudent decision they could make.
When you consider their history.....
They have been considered a threat every season since they surprised the league in their inaugural campaign.
Won their division 5 times.
Finished top-5 overall 4 times.
Qualified for the playoffs in 8 of their 9 seasons.
Advanced to the second round 6 times.
Advanced to the Conference Finals in 4 times.
Advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in 3 of those years.
If they win this year they will have made it to the Finals 33% of the time and won the Cup 66% of the time they made it there.
Now you look at their roster, and of course the turnover is incredible with only 2 skaters remaining from their expansion season, but they are at a critical point with their roster.....
Up front you have Marner and Eichel, who next season will be 29 and 30 (respectively).
On the blueline you have Hanifin and Theodore, 29 and 13 (respectively).
In net you have Carter Hart, 28 next season.
If you take the rest of the roster and consider them expendable, you could make some trades that allow you to restock your prospect depth over the next two seasons, and return to being a serious competitor when those 5 guys I mention are 34 years old, likely have a couple solid years left (barring injury) and have mentored a new group of players who are pushing to be their successors.
I mean, win 2 cups in a decade, with multiple deep playoff runs, and then avoid the classic slow decline and ultimate rebuild to return quickly to becoming a team that nobody can dismiss as a potential finalist, that would be almost unheard of in the NHL cap era.
On Minnesota.....
I think that Guerin would be smart to consider trading either Hughes or Faber if it means acquiring Larkin.
He has minimal trade capital right now after acquiring Hughes, they were ranked 23rd in prospect depth rankings by The Athletic, and frankly, no team wins a Cup these days without a 1C.....and they don't have one, which has been the knock on Minnesota for a few years.
I think that Larkin + Kaprizov + Faber is better than Ericsson Ek + Kaprizov + Hughes when it comes to being a force in the post-season.
Obviously Larkin + Kaprizov + Hughes is the best option, but that may not be doable depending upon Hughes.
If Hughes signs an extension then make the move with Faber, but if Hughes wants to wait and see again, trade him.
On Detroit.....
Nothing Vegas might offer them should be tempting right now because frankly Vegas cannot offer much of "right now" value.
Hughes would be massive for Yzerman. If he acquired Quinn in a trade-and-sign scenario, he could then decide between Edvinsson and Seider and trade one of them for a center.....instantly improves his team with the addition of Hughes and a lateral move at the 1C with Larkin. He also avoids being the GM that sent the home-state 1C star and Captain packing by replacing him with the home-state
superstar defenseman.
If it's Faber, then same story, but perhaps instead of trading Edvinsson or Seider you flip Faber immediately to another team.
While Florida probably has the easiest time making things work, I think that Minnesota makes the most sense in the scenario I describe.
