The Bruins Are Going ALL IN...

Last night, the Detroit Red Wings suspended Dylan Larkin without pay. He isn't hurt. He told them he won't be playing for them anymore. The Red Wings put out a statement. Dylan Larkin has informed us he will no longer play for the Detroit Red Wings. 808 points. 818 NHL games, every single one of them in a Red Wings sweater. He was drafted 15th overall in 2014. He's never played for anyone else. On June 4th, it was reported that Dylan Larkin wanted out. Today is day 148. Now Darren Dreger says two teams could end it fast, and one is the Bruins. And Nesson says Boston is already in the mix. Here's exactly what he said on First Up on October 26th. What maybe needs to change is that 10-team list. It probably has to jump to 13 to 15 clubs. If it includes the Canadiens or the Bruins, then I think the deal gets done pretty... quickly. So far, it doesn't appear Larkin is willing. Read that again. He didn't say Larkin wants Boston. He says Boston or Montreal is the key to make it quick. Do the math. 13 or 15 teams means adding, once again, three to five teams. Boston, Montreal would be two of them. And Darren Dreger says those two are what would make it quick. And the last part of that line is the catch. Larkin has a no-move clause. Detroit can't send it anywhere he says no to. Here's the list he picked. Florida, Minnesota, Vegas, Dallas, Washington, Carolina, Utah, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, and Colorado. That's the 10 teams. No Montreal, no Boston. ESPN's Emily Kaplan says they're on the outside looking in, along with Buffalo, and that the Minnesota Wilds have one of the stronger offers. And quickly, folks, before we do continue, we're currently sitting at 8,264 subscribers on the channel here. Help us get to 10k by hitting that subscribe button. So how does a team handle a star who will not play? And how does it usually end? Yesterday, Detroit called it a trade-related scratch. The usual way to protect a player's price. But by last night, it was a suspension without pay. In February 2023, the Coyotes scratched Jacob Chychrun from February 11th, and his coach said he'd stay out until something happened. 18 days later, on March 1st, Ottawa got him two days before the deadline. And here's one that matters for us. On April 2021, the Sabres sat Taylor Hall for precautionary reasons ahead of a trade. On April 12th, he was a Bruin. Boston sent Andre Fjork and a second-round pick to Buffalo, and Hall waived his no movement clause to do it. So a star with no move clause, a team that's sat him and the Bruins at the other end, it's happened before. But a player who stops playing has a cost. In 2016, Jonathan Drouin refused to report to the AHL, and Tampa suspended him. Reports said the missed games worried some teams. And this time, it's his own call. Boston Hockey Now says he forfeits forty one thousand dollars for every day of suspension And to show why a 10-team list is not working, we have to start with how we got here. Look how fast it has moved. Dreger reports Detroit doesn't appear interested in any future-driven return and can't make a bad trade. And Dreger says CAA and Larkin feel there are trades with teams on a list that have been close. The Wings need a decent player or two. So Larkin's side thinks the deals were close. Detroit, according to Dreger, wants a player back. Not futures, and that's the stalemate. And the contract is the other problem. He's in year four of eight, $69.6 million deal, $8.7 million a year with a no trade clause. He's played 10 games, so that $8.7 million cap hit works out to be $870,000 for every game he has played so far, and he won't be adding to that total right now. His agent, Pat Brisson, said Dillon's had enough of the situation, and Detroit isn't winning either. The Red Wings are 6-4-3, with 15 points, tied for last in the Atlantic with Buffalo. Detroit stripped him of the captaincy. He rejoined the team on the ice on October 6th. Ten games later, he says he's done. Interim GM Sean Horcroft's statement says Detroit is disappointed in the decision. They will keep exploring trades. And that any deal needs Larkin's approval and has to serve the team's long-term goals. So in my mind here, this suspension makes a 10-team list a lot harder for both sides. And Boston is one of the best reasons to add a name. We got to start by why he asked out. Detroit has missed the playoffs in 10 straight seasons, and Freeman reported they made it once in his 11 years. Detroit Hockey Now reported that there was tension between Larkin and Steve Eiserman, who stepped down as GM in July, and Larkin wants out of the place that has been losing for a decade. Boston is 9-4-1 and first in the Atlantic with 19 points, Montreal is 18, and Detroit has 15. Both teams that Darren Dreger named are in the same division as Detroit, and one June article says the Red Wings are unlikely to trade him inside the division, but Florida and Tampa Bay are also on that list. So, there's going to have to be some sort of change if they're not going to. Look at who scores. After David Pastrnak's 18 points, nobody on Boston has more than 11. After a whole, Boston scored one goal in each of his last two losses, and Larkin scored 34 goals last season. And here is where he'd slot. On our depth chart, Pavel Zacha is centering between Geeky and Pastrnak. Larkin would take that spot. Zaka moves down or becomes a piece going back In fact, because of Fraser Minn also being A top-line center. And Boston just lost two straight. 2-1 to Carolina and 4-1 to St. Louis. And Marco Sturm called last night unacceptable. They're 9-4-1, and he's adding a piece, not a rescue. Now, the fair question. This season, he has two goals and six points in 10 games. Last season, it was 67 points in 74 games. And Boston wouldn't be buying the six. They'd be buying the 67. And the power play, he's three of his six points this season came on it. He has 86 power play goals for his career. He's a center who wins draws too. 52.8% of his face-offs for his career and 21 minutes and 41 seconds a night this season. He's not just a name. His 649 points are 10th in the Red Wings history ahead of Brandon Shanahan. And his 278 goals are 10th too ahead of Nick Lidstrom. So that's the player. Now, this is the part that decides if Boston can even afford him. Now, the other half of Dreger's line. Montreal. BolaVIP reports Canadian GM Kent Hughes has a package ready. 18 points, one point behind Boston. But look at who they already have. Nick Suzuki has 12 points, Cole Caulfield has 10, Lane Hudson has 10. Suzuki is their number one center and in Montreal, Larkin would be a luxury. In Boston, he is the missing piece. If Larkin is choosing between the two teams that Dreger named, Boston gives him the bigger role, the bigger option. ESPN, of course, has said that he isn't looking for a Canadian team. Boston has $5.2 million of cap space. Larkin costs $8.7 million. So at least $3.5 million has to go back the other way. And Detroit wants a decent player or two. Boston has two centers on a deal that expires in 2027. Casey Middlestadt at $5.75 million and Pavel Zacha at $4.75 million. Either one will clear ample space. There's another way to make the money work, and Detroit could keep part of a salary the way that Buffalo did with Halls. Nobody has reported that for Larkin, but it's the kind of detail that turns the hard cap fit into an easy one for many different teams. One outlet in June said that Detroit would ask for a guy like Pavel Zacha, plus a prospect like James Hagens. That's a guess, not a report, but Hagens already has 10 points for Boston this season, and that has been increasingly more unlikely. Then there's the risk. He turns 30 and has 818 games. Already on the cards. The contract runs through 2030 and 2031. That's the price of a top line center. And it's why I'm not saying Boston wins. I'm saying it's more a fit. Here's the problem. Chris Johnson said on October 22nd that Larkin could go a bit beyond the 10 teams if necessary. Four days later, Dreger said so far, it doesn't appear he's going to. Larkin holds the no move clause. So whatever Boston offers, he has to say yes first. And remember, Taylor Hall. Had a no move clause too. He waived it to go to Boston. Players say yes late when the team in front of them is winning. And that's the pitch here. The first place in the Atlantic, a hole in the center, and a player who has enough of losing. So there's three ways that this can go. And Larkin adds teams, Detroit lowers the price, or team on that list, like Minnesota. The first two both help Boston, the third is one that hurts it because a team on that list lands them first. And the suspension changes that clock. Larkin loses $41,000 a day, and Detroit has a star it can't play, neither side can wait forever. This is all not the greatest for Boston, because Detroit's Sports Network reads Darren Drager's comments as Larkin having no interest in either team. And that's his read, not Drager's words, so It's a hurdle that you're going to have to see, but it's not a wall because he very well could add Boston to this trade list. But what we're going to have to watch next is whether the list gets some more new names on it and whether Minnesota's offer gets done. Those are the two hurdles. And Detroit says it's going to keep exploring the options. And Drager says if it's Boston or Montreal, it's going to move fast. So say Detroit calls tomorrow and asks Boston, Zaka or Middlestat? Who do you send? Comment Z or M for Zaka or Middlestat down below.