Dylan Larkin made it clear over the summer that he had no interest in staying with the Detroit Red Wings, but the tiny list of teams he was willing to accept a trade to keeps him in Detroit and without the “C” just a week from the start of the 2026-27 regular season.
While no Canadian clubs remain on that list, Larkin’s pool of potential suitors has grown to at least seven teams, including one not previously rumored to be involved: the Washington Capitals.
The reporting came from Elliotte Friedman on the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast.
“One of the things I’ve heard about Larkin is that there are more teams that he’s willing to go to than have been reported,” Friedman said. “Initially, it was reported it was three (teams), and that was Vegas, Minnesota, and Florida. I think it’s more now. I think some of the other teams that are there are Colorado, Washington, and I suspect, in case people didn’t know them already, Dallas and Tampa.”
The major problem for the Capitals is that, even if they were to have mutual interest in landing Larkin, their forward group is already jam-packed after a very busy offseason. The team added Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou, and Boone Jenner and also has several prospects ready to break through to the next level. While those acquisitions more addressed depth on the wings, the Caps still have Pierre-Luc Dubois and Dylan Strome committed to top-six minutes down the middle, with the still-developing Ilya Protas and Justin Sourdif in the bottom six.
According to PuckPedia, the Capitals also currently have just $75k in salary cap space, while Larkin, 30, makes $8.7 million for the next five years. That cap crunch means the Caps would need to trade away from their current NHL roster to fit Larkin in, which doesn’t seem like something they’d want to do this deep into preseason preparations, especially with such a strong team.
Despite the tumultuous summer and an upper-body injury, Larkin has reported to Red Wings camp and is practicing with the team. Due to the injury, he’s not expected to play in any of Detroit’s four preseason games.
This past season, Larkin recorded 67 points (34g, 33a) in 74 games, marking his fifth straight year scoring at least 30 goals. He has notched at least 67 points in the past five seasons, putting up a career-high 79 points (32g, 47a) during the 2022-23 campaign.
The former 15th overall selection in the 2014 NHL Draft has only played in five career playoff games, all of which came at the end of his rookie 2015-16 season.
