There has been some chatter swirling around, linking the Colorado Avalanche to Dylan Larkin. That chatter stems from Larkin’s inclusion of Colorado on his trade list.
That’s old news, and it’s been covered widely here at Mile High Sticking.
But what seems interesting is the fact that one notable insider, Elliotte Friedman, shot down those talks once and for all.
During an appearance on NHL Network, Friedman discussed Larkin’s potential trade destinations. And he made it clear that there was a handful of teams, the Avalanche among them, where a trade wasn’t going to go anywhere.
“Some of those teams, like Florida and Colorado and Vegas, it’s simply not happening unless something really changes.”
All right, so there’s really very little chance, if any at all, of Dylan Larkin ending up in Colorado. Now, it’s not that the Avalanche don’t want Larkin. Given the way things are going, it might just be a good idea.
But the fact is that Joe Sakic isn’t going to be very willing to jettison whatever Detroit Red Wings GM Shawn Horcoff wants for Larkin.
It’s just not the type of deal Colorado is going to make right now, especially with the team’s salary cap structure.
Could something change that brings Dylan Larkin to Colorado?
Now, Friedman qualified his comments by stating that if something changed, there was no way that Larkin would end up in Colorado.
That situation begs the question: What would exactly have to change?
Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the asking price. In particular, the Red Wings would have to be willing to take whatever Colorado can offer them.
And that’s going to be much easier said than done.
The Avalanche don’t have very much trade capital right now. That means that the Red Wings would have to be willing to accept a couple of mid-tier prospects and a potential late first-rounder to make the deal work.
For such a scenario to play out, the Red Wings would have to be so desperate, and potentially Larkin’s camp pushing for Colorado, that the deal would eventually happen.
Of course, there’s the matter of cap space. The Avalanche just don’t have it. And that would also mean the Red Wings facilitating things by agreeing to take on a contract that would give the Avs enough cap space to fit Dylan Larkin’s contract.
All of that situation sums up why Colorado is just not a realistic destination for Dylan Larkin. As much as he would love to play for the Avs, and frankly, Avalanche fans wouldn’t mind him on the team, the bottom line is that a massive shift would have to happen in order for Larkin to wear the blue and burgundy.
Add us as a preferred source on Google