Dylan Larkin has put the Devils on his trade list to join Connor Hellebuyck, per Friedman

Dylan Larkin has put the New Jersey Devils on his trade list, and the Detroit Red Wings suddenly have a very public problem.

Elliotte Friedman dropped it on NHL Tonight on Friday. He added that the Devils could be one of the league's most fascinating teams over the next six to eight months.

Detroit's response comes tonight in Edmonton. The Red Wings sit last in the Atlantic at 4-4-3, carrying a minus-5 goal differential.

Saturday's 4-1 loss in Calgary didn't calm anybody down. Detroit now ranks 24th in the overall standings.

And Larkin hasn't been the one pulling them out of it. He has one goal through nine games this season.

He's gone without a goal over his last five outings. Three assists in that stretch keep it from looking ugly, but nobody's mistaking that for a turnaround.

So what does a 30-year-old forward do when the standings look like this in late October?

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Shawn Horcoff faces a franchise call six weeks into the job

A trade list works like a house listing with no asking price. Nothing's sold, but every neighbor on the street now knows the place could change hands.

Horcoff only took over as Detroit's GM on September 15. Six weeks in, he's holding the kind of decision most GMs get a full season to prepare for.

Todd McLellan has more immediate headaches. Marco Kasper is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and isn't expected back until at least October 29.

Daniil Tarasov is day-to-day with an undisclosed issue, one more question mark in a crease where John Gibson sits at .867.

Now look at the other side. The Devils have won three straight, the latest a Saturday decision over Los Angeles, and sit at 7-4-0.

They already beat Detroit 5-4 in overtime on Red Wings ice this month. The rematch in New Jersey on December 9 just got a lot more interesting.

Then there's Connor Hellebuyck. New Jersey carries his $8.5 million cap hit, third-highest among NHL goaltenders.

Jack Hughes leads the Devils with 12 points. Arseny Gritsyuk has five goals over his last five games.

And looming over everything is Quinn Hughes, who scored the winner Sunday in Minnesota's 4-2 win in Vancouver while logging 26:10.

Friedman called it the question hanging over the entire NHL. With Jack and Luke already wearing Devils colors, nobody in New Jersey needs it explained.

Here's the catch. New Jersey already pays five players $8 million or more: Luke Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Timo Meier, Hellebuyck and Jack Hughes.

Squeezing Larkin's $8.7 million cap hit onto that pile is a bad idea for Sunny Mehta, and a worse one if the Quinn Hughes dream is real.

Larkin's list doesn't force a single phone call yet. But every flat night in Detroit from here gives Horcoff one more reason to pick it up.

Also read on Markerzone.com:
Proposed three-team trade would land Nico Hischier in Montreal and Dylan Larkin in New Jersey