Dylan Larkin's trade request has a destination attached to it now, and it isn't Detroit. Chris Johnston pointed straight at Minnesota.
The clip circulated again overnight. Johnston called the Wild the most likely landing spot, then admitted he can't figure out what deal actually works between the two clubs.
That second half is the real story. Naming a landing spot costs nothing. Fit is where these things die.
The package believed to have been tabled in the summer included Danila Yurov, Charlie Stramel and picks. That's the shape of it so far.
Yurov played 73 games last season and put up 27 points with a -7 rating. Young, cheap, and not the answer to this problem yet.
Detroit is being asked to swap 34 goals in 74 games for that. Prospects and paper don't cover the difference.
He also buried 14 power play goals. Pull that out of a lineup and the man advantage doesn't shrink, it changes shape entirely.
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Dylan Larkin's preferred trade destination may have just been revealed
There's a complication nobody is putting on the front page. He's listed as day to day with an upper body issue and questionable for the start of the season.
Teams don't hand over young assets for a player they haven't watched skate. Bill Guerin has been around far too long to skip that step.
The contract carries an $8,700,000 cap hit. That's real money for a club trying to stay inside a window that's already creaking.
The Red Wings finished 41-31-10 last season and landed 16th overall. Sixth in the Atlantic, which tells you how the year actually felt.
They closed 2-6-2 over their final 10 and got run 8-1 in Florida in the last week. Nobody walked out of that feeling steady.
Minnesota finished 46-24-12 for 104 points. A club sitting that high has no reason to strip its own future down to the studs.
Kirill Kaprizov is already carrying a $9,000,000 cap hit off an 89-point season. Stacking another salary near that number gets messy in a hurry.
Guerin has his own file open too. Filip Gustavsson is questionable for the start of the season with a hip issue.
The two clubs met twice last season and the Wild took both, including a 5-4 night in Detroit in April.
So who moves first? This has the feel of two people haggling over a used car while the engine light is still glowing on the dash.
Detroit gets its answer eventually. Todd McLellan opens camp with Larkin still in his room, and every player in it has read the same reports as the rest of us.
Should Bill Guerin give up Danila Yurov to land Dylan Larkin?
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