Watching the cinema of Dylan Larkin’s season debut on Tuesday was like October in Alberta — three seasons all wrapped into one game.
The former captain was booed mercilessly every time he touched the puck. There were some cheers when his goal gave the Red Wings the lead. And by the end, he skated back out to Little Caesars Arena to mostly applause when selected as first star of the game.
Larkin is one of them, a true Michigander, and that’s what hurts. He isn’t just their former captain, their emotional leader. He also grew up a Wings fan and has played nearly all of his hockey inside a one-hour radius around Detroit – from minor hockey at Belle Tire to the U.S. National Development Team all the way through the Michigan Wolverines and into the NHL.
“It felt good to be a hockey player again,” Larkin said.
Collecting two points and a win was also a reminder of the tightrope the Red Wings, owner Chris Ilitch and interim GM Shawn Horcoff are trying to walk.
They have been steadfast in their ask for Larkin, that they want young, NHL talent to remain competitive now.
But something shifted in their conversations over the weekend with teams after Simon Edvinsson’s trade preference came to light via Elliotte Friedman on Rogers Saturday Night Hockey. Sources say teams were told that the Red Wings would still rather have NHL-ready talent for Edvinsson, of course, but are open to considering the right package for Edvinsson that is more futures-based with prospects and draft picks.
That departure has left teams wondering: is Detroit internally coming to grips with the notion that the rebuild needs to be rebuilt?
The Red Wings have missed the playoffs 10 straight years – and that is with the core of Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, Edvinsson and Alex DeBrincat.
If a 23-year-old Edvinsson is out the door, Larkin is soon following, and DeBrincat is seemingly third priority now as a pending UFA…then what?
Nathan MacKinnon was right: You can’t fight reality.
Oilers keeping tabs on right-shooting, fourth-line centre
Count the Edmonton Oilers among those who have kept tabs on Boston Bruins forward Matthew Poitras in their quest to find a right-shooting centre to anchor their fourth line.
Poitras’ biggest supporter internally is coach Mike Babcock – and that worked out well for Alex Formenton in September.
Poitras, 22, requires waivers now after back-to-back solid seasons in AHL Providence. He’s played in just one of the Bruins’ first four games and registered just over 11 minutes of ice time.
The Oilers recognize the solution may be internal and have been encouraged by early returns from Owen Michaels, one of the pleasant surprises of a truncated training camp.
We’ve reported Edmonton’s interest in Kirby Dach, another right-shooting centre candidate. Calgary has also kept tabs on Dach. The Canadiens are trying to juggle Dach’s value with his tenuous spot in their lineup and their push to make a big trade splash this season.
Editor's Note: The Oilers traded for left-shot centre Filip Hallander Wednesday afternoon for defenceman Spencer Stastney.
What’s different about Nikishin’s status
One added wrinkle to the Edvinsson negotiations is that the first year of his new contract will come at an increased salary cap hit with an in-season signing, now that we’re a week into the season.
To use round numbers, if Edvinsson agreed to a seven-year, $70 million extension today, the first year of that contract would hit the books at $10.4 million instead of the usual $10 million.
It increases for every day missed in the season. The calculation: cap hit ($10 million) divided by the number of days remaining in the season (185), and then multiply that number by total days in the season (194).
It’s less of an issue for the Red Wings, who have space, than for an acquiring team.
Interestingly, the same formula does not apply for Carolina’s Alexander Nikishin, as he is not a true restricted free agent by the definition in the CBA. He is a “10.2(c)” player without the right of first refusal via an offer sheet, and therefore, whatever he signs now in-season will have the same effect on the cap as a typical contract.
The Hurricanes have been working with Nikishin’s new agent, Paul Theofanous, to try and execute a trade.
The deadline for RFAs to sign and be eligible for the season is Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. ET, but that also does not apply to Nikishin.
Slap Shots
• Before they dropped the gloves, when Islanders’ Brayden Schenn lined up across from J.T. Miller on Tuesday night inside Madison Square Garden, Schenn told Miller: “I’ve gotta welcome myself to the rivalry.”
• Patrik Laine isn’t the only free agent forward the Calgary Flames are in conversation with after a rough start to the season. Still unsigned: Vladimir Tarasenko, David Perron, James van Riemsdyk, Jonathan Drouin.
• Re: Flames expectations — I’m not sure we’ve properly accounted for a team that has said goodbye to Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, Rasmus Andersson and Mackenzie Weegar in the last nine months. That’s a lot.
• As the Flyers scour the defence market, wouldn’t Edvinsson be a great fit in Philadelphia? He checks the box on size (6-foot-3), age (23) and high-end potential.
• Early predictions for deadline players in-demand if their team is selling: Vancouver’s Paul Cotter, Philadelphia’s Nick Seeler and New Jersey’s Brenden Dillon.
• The uptick in fights to begin the season has brought added juice. But should linesmen stop a fight when the opponent has pulled a jersey overhead and keeps wailing away? That’s what happened to Dillon on Tuesday, his forehead covered in welts after being blindfolded by Jack McBain.
• According to Sportsnet Stats, Tuesday’s Leafs-Predators game was the fourth in NHL history to have four No. 1 overall picks each score a goal (John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Gavin McKenna and Steven Stamkos). We’ve got the potential for five in one game this season: Blackhawks (Patrick Kane, Connor Bedard), Oilers (Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins), Sabres (Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power) and Devils (Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes).
