A new Elliotte Friedman report just changed the conversation around Dylan Larkin

Dylan Larkin just handed Todd McLellan a bigger trade problem, and Anaheim may now be right in the middle of it.

The new angle is not that Larkin wants out. That part is already on the board. The new angle is where the real market may be forming around him.

Jeff Marek floated Anaheim as a team to watch and even pointed to a framework around Mason McTavish plus more. That is not a done deal, but it tells you how serious the Ducks fit looks from the outside.

That would be a big swing for Pat Verbeek and Joel Quenneville. Anaheim already has young centers, but Larkin's speed and 34 goals in 74 games would change the top of that lineup right away.

The Ducks are also the kind of team that can sell a player on upside. They are not a finished contender, but they have enough young talent that a center like Larkin could see a real climb there.

Dallas is a different kind of threat. David Pagnotta said there are plenty of people talking about the Stars, and that makes sense because Jim Nill's club can offer a win-now pitch few teams can match.

That is what makes this tougher for Detroit. Larkin is not only a captain on the move. He is a top-line center with an $8.7 million cap hit through 2030-31, and teams with real ambition are going to line up.

" David Pagnotta: Re Dylan Larkin: There's a lot of people talking about Dallas, there's people talking about San Jose, Utah's another one - Morning Cuppa Hockey (6/11) "

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And here is what the always reliable Elliotte Friedman had to say :

" Elliotte Friedman: Re Dylan Larkin trade request: He wants to go to an established power like a Minnesota, a Tampa or a Dallas - FAN Hockey Show (6/5) "

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Elliotte Friedman just revealed a surprising twist involving Dylan Larkin

San Jose is easy to understand. Mike Grier has Macklin Celebrini, a rising young core, and the kind of team that could make Larkin believe the future is arriving faster than people think.

That does not make the Sharks the favorite. It does make them dangerous if Larkin is willing to look beyond the pure contender tier and buy into a younger room with real upside.

Utah is the sneaky one. Pagnotta put the Mammoth in the conversation, and Andre Tourigny's team has enough structure and emerging talent to at least make the call worth taking.

Utah also is trying to move from interesting to serious. A center like Larkin would do that fast, especially for a club still shaping its identity after the rebrand to the Mammoth.

For Steve Yzerman, that is the hard part. The more teams that feel believable, the harder it gets to treat this like a small list with one clean answer.

And for the Red Wings, that is the real development here. Anaheim, Dallas, San Jose, and Utah are not just rumor-board filler anymore. They all have a hockey case, and Dylan Larkin's market suddenly looks a lot wider than it did a few days ago.

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