Some in Dylan Larkin's camp see Montreal as a fit, but it's his call, says Pierre LeBrun

The Montreal Canadiens have pitched Detroit on adding them to Dylan Larkin's trade list. Kent Hughes isn't sitting still this October.

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Heading into Friday night's game in Chicago, Martin St-Louis is still sorting through Tuesday's overtime loss to San Jose, a game he said came down to reading key moments.

Larkin has five points in seven games for the Red Wings this season. He's 30, and Montreal clearly wants a seat at the table if Detroit ever opens the door.

He isn't the only target. Hughes also chased another established forward hard, and he's already made the only trade of consequence since the season opened, flipping a spare defenceman for a second-round pick.

But the 4-3-2 start comes with a twist. Some of Montreal's youngest players are making the shopping list look a lot shorter.

Lane Hutson, all of 22, already has nine points. Over his last five games, Juraj Slafkovsky has produced six.

And the pipeline keeps pushing. Luke Mittelstadt has popped on the Laval blue line, while 19-year-old Alexander Zharovsky has five points in his last three KHL games.

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The blue line squeeze that could push Kaiden Guhle out

Scouts view Adam Engstrom as one of the best defencemen in hockey without a fully defined NHL role. Through five games, he's plus-2.

David Reinbacher has dressed once, and Mittelstadt is knocking from the AHL. Somebody eventually has to make room.

That somebody could be Guhle, who carries a $5,550,000 cap hit and has one assist in five games. Down the road, it could be Michael Matheson.

Matheson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. At 32 and $6,000,000 per season, he's the type of contract a younger blue line eventually outgrows.

Around the league, Montreal's run to the Eastern Conference Final got read as a win-now signal. Rival teams have it wrong.

Cole Caufield is 25 and Nick Suzuki, the captain, is 27. Ivan Demidov, 20, isn't expected back from a lower-body injury before Oct. 31.

Loading this core with a declining veteran is like taking out a 30-year mortgage on a used car. The payments outlast the ride.

So the likelier play looks like the Phillip Danault model. A stabilizing piece, a reasonable acquisition cost, no long-term strings.

Danault has yet to score through nine games. Still, he's plus-3 on a team that's been outscored.

Which makes the Larkin pitch hard to square. A 30-year-old at $8,700,000 per season is exactly the profile this front office says it wants to avoid.

And it targets the wrong problem. Montreal is allowing 3.8 goals per game, and Jakub Dobes owns an .847 save percentage.

Another forward doesn't fix that. Samuel Montembeault isn't expected back from injured reserve before Oct. 25.

Michael Hage has 14 points in six games at Michigan, and he's a non-starter in any conversation.

So the kids keep knocking while the goals against keep piling up. How long can Hughes wait before the standings make the call for him?

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