Jason_R

Remember, Mr. I, God bless him, pushed all his chips in on the Tigers too and left both teams crapped out. People are saying that Stevie is only still here because of his legacy as a player, but they get it backwards. Only his legacy as a player has afforded him the time to rebuild a franchise that, at its low, had the third worst points percentage in modern NHL history, behind the expansion Atlanta Thrashers. He hasn’t been perfect but we lose sight of how historically awful the Wings got.

If Larkin could not cut it in Detroit, I cannot imagine him cutting it in Canada, with the fishbowl of the Canada hockey press. These people are already out to get the members of team USA who are playing on Canadian teams. They would tear Larkin apart. I also can’t imagine that Stevie has any interest in sending him to the east, though you have to assume that if the deal is Lundell and 9OA, it would be considered. I also have a hard time thinking that Vegas wants Larkin as much as he wants them. I think it will come down to Minnesota with a third team involved, or one of the upstarts in the west. Like San Jose, Anaheim, or Utah.

Would be a fair trade (if Nico will sign an extension) and would get Dylan playing with a Hughes brother.

I saw that rumor circulating again on Twitter but it seems like it was just more Edmonton fanfic.

Yes, he clearly seems to want to go to the Wild. I think Buddha made the point that if it is the Wild, Wallstedt and a third team would need to be involved, and I think this is right… and makes the deal Larkin wants really complicated. Also, he really pissed Stevie off. Don’t make Stevie angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry. 😂

Yes, I expected the joke. But if not for the legacy they’d probably be gone already, so the power of the legacy is strong.

Athletes with a legacy ride it forever. Stevie is the GM. Draper, Lidstrom, and others are in the front office. Ozzy and Larry Murphy have TV gigs. If Darren McCarty still drank, would he ever buy a beer again in Detroit? Never. The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that Larkin just had an epic crash out. He’ll always regret it. It’s hard to watch.

What is a message board for other than speculating?

In real life people will say anything to get what they want in a negotiation. If Stevie strikes a good deal with a mere contender and Larkin tries to hold out for a recent Stanley Cup winner, I can easily see Stevie insinuating that Larkin is afraid of betting on himself.

I think it makes sense that some talk occurred about whether Larkin should retain the C. I can see Larkin saying if you don’t think I’m doing a good job as C, trade me.

We now have two leaks. The first one was the trade request. The second one is the short list of preferred destinations. I do not see how it is in Larkin’s interest for his team to have leaked either. Maybe others disagree with me and maybe his team really did do the leaking. But in both cases, the obvious impact of the leaks is to make it harder for Detroit to achieve Larkin’s desired outcome. It seems unnecessarily antagonistic for Larkin or his agent to have leaked either of these stories. But if they did leak one or both of these stories, that is an indication that the situation is way more toxic than it even seems. If it is that toxic, it would not surprise me at all to see Stevie tell Larkin that if he doesn’t like whatever deal gets made, he will be free to play for his contract without the C and in a locker room that now sees him as a traitor, or to sit out and not get paid. anyway, there are probably half a dozen and maybe even a dozen teams that could have a realistic hope of reaching the conference finals if they added a guy like Larkin. If Larkin refuses to accept a trade to one of them, Stevie will pull out the dagger. “Are you telling me you don’t think you are good enough to put that team over the hump? Are you telling me that you think you are only good enough to make a playoff run if you are riding the coattails of a team that is already good enough to make it to the finals? that’s why you failed as captain.”

Yes Larkin has the NMC but I don’t see any way he refuses to waive it if Stevie brokers a deal that is good for Detroit with a team like San Jose, Anaheim, Utah, that is young and ready to move to the next level. Larkin doesn’t want to be a villain. He just wants to go and compete. If Guerin doesn’t think Larkin is worth what another GM does, or can’t pull together a deal, Larkin is going to have to sleep in the bed he made.

What do we think about timing? Does this get done before draft? On draft night? Between draft and camp? During camp? After start of season? My guess is that it happens on or just before draft night. This gives Stevie three weeks to work the phones, ID credible trade partners, and negotiate the best outcome. I know Stevie is a tough negotiator and won’t be forced into a bad deal, but I also get the sense he would like this media circus over with. He would also like to come out of the draft with something to brag about, and to distract attention from Larkin.