Dylan Larkin said no to the Canadiens. Saturday night, he skates into Montreal anyway with the Red Wings.
Word around the league is that Kent Hughes had a deal in place with Detroit. The one piece that never signed off was Larkin.
So Montreal fans face a choice of their own heading into puck drop. Boo the guy who turned them down, or roll out the red carpet?
One Habs fan floated an idea on X this morning: give him a standing ovation and make up his mind for him.
Do it. That ovation might be the best recruiting pitch this franchise can still make.
It's like a company losing its top candidate and mailing him a cake anyway. Awkward, sure, but people remember who treated them well.
And Hughes was ready to take on an $8,700,000 cap hit to make this happen. That tells you how badly Montreal wanted the 30-year-old.
Kent Hughes faces a crease problem during a three-game skid
The Canadiens could use the jolt. They're 1-2-1 and dragging a three-game losing streak into Saturday.
Thursday night's 5-2 loss to Nashville left them 0-2-0 on home ice, which is a rough way to greet anyone you're trying to recruit.
The bigger issue sits in the crease. Montreal is allowing 4.8 goals per game, and Jakub Dobes owns a .856 save percentage.
Samuel Montembeault is day-to-day and listed out until at least Saturday, so the goaltending picture stays murky.
Nick Suzuki has done his job with 7 points in 4 games.
Further down the lineup, Kirby Dach and Jake Evans have combined for one point, and Ivan Demidov is on injured reserve until at least Oct. 31.
Larkin's own start has been strange. He's dressed for just one of Detroit's three games, scoring a goal and adding a power-play assist.
The Red Wings host Seattle tonight first. Saturday in Montreal is the back end of a back-to-back for Todd McLellan's group.
Detroit sits 1-2-0 and rolls in off a 5-3 win over Ottawa.
Alex DeBrincat has carried the early offense with 4 points, the kind of production the Wings will need on tired legs.
Saturday is also the first of four meetings between these teams this season. Nobody in that building will treat it like a random October game.
There's a Detroit angle too. Shawn Horcoff agreed to move a cornerstone forward, and now that forward has to walk back into the room knowing it.
Larkin hasn't changed his answer, at least not publicly.
If the building rises Saturday and he skates past without a glance, Hughes has his answer. If he looks up, that phone line might not stay quiet.
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Should Canadiens fans give Dylan Larkin a standing ovation Saturday night?
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