NHL Rumor Mill – October 3, 2026
Could the Panthers acquire Red Wings center Dylan Larkin if Aleksander Barkov is sidelined again? Did the Maple Leafs try to flip recently acquired forward Miles Wood? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
NHL NETWORK: Elliotte Friedman was asked if there was a situation where Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin might become available to the Florida Panthers if their captain Aleksander Barkov is out long-term.
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (NHL Images)
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Barkov injured his left knee during Thursday’s game between the Panthers and San Jose Sharks. He underwent an MRI on Friday, and an update is expected on Saturday. Barkov underwent season-ending surgery last September on his right knee, so there’s concern he might be sidelined for a while.
Friedman thinks the Panthers are among the teams on Larkin’s list of trade destinations.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Panthers are on his list, though his rumored preference is the Minnesota Wild.
According to Friedman, the Panthers expect Barkov to miss some time, but the hope is he won’t be out long term. They had interest in Larkin earlier this summer.
Red Wings interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said his club isn’t looking at rebuilding. They want a return for Larkin that will help them right now. Friedman thinks the Wings would point to what the Columbus Blue Jackets got from the Toronto Maple Leafs (Matthew Knies) in the Kirill Marchenko trade earlier this week and will want a comparable return.
Friedman believes the Panthers may have been willing to part with Eetu Luostarinen when they were looking at Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck before settling on Jacob Markstrom. They really like Luostarinen and won’t want to move him, but it could come down to whether he’s the kind of player the Red Wings would want for Larkin.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Red Wings probably wouldn’t mind Luostarinen as part of the return, but not the centerpiece. The Panthers would have to include more to meet the Wings’ immediate needs, but they have limited trade capital.
DAILY FACEOFF TORONTO: cited Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman saying the Maple Leafs attempted to flip forward Miles Wood after acquiring him from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Marchenko trade.
“I think they were trying to flip Miles Wood that day,” Friedman said during a recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. “I think they were trying to work on trades to see if they could move him elsewhere, but obviously that didn’t happen.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Maple Leafs took Wood as part of the return for salary-cap reasons because the Blue Jackets wanted to shed salary in the deal. The 31-year-old depth winger is in the fourth season of a six-year deal with an average annual value of $2.5 million. He also has a six-team no-trade list.
If the Panthers come sniffing around for Larkin, I would hope Horcoff says “if it’s Lundell you have a deal … otherwise, see ya …”
Agreed, George. Lundell or no deal.
still needs to be something extra in there even if Lundell is the best center option on any of Larkin’s approved team list
Lundell is better than Copp imho but not sure a first line center
I understand the owner wants to win now but when you really look at it, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime it they’d let a GM do his thing.
2026-2027 – 17M
27-28 – 60M with 7 spots to fill
28-29 – 4 players including Larkin signed.
Steps I’d take
1. Explain to the fans that you understand the disappointment blah blah blah but you’re hear to make sure the team can compete for years and you’re going to take the year to evaluate the kids.
To not throw Steve under the bus, talk about how well he drafted.
2. Explain your plan to Debrincat and sign him.
3. Trade Larkin for solid shut down guys with term. I’ll explain more at the end.
4. Evaluate the kids, take bad contracts even if have 2 years.
5. You now start a Roster with Debrincat, Raymond, Seider, Evidsson and Augustine with just Chariot in the way.
It’s a pretty good start if you ask me.
The reason I said a few shut down guys is in my opinion if you can lock your 1st and 3rd line down, it becomes more acceptable to over pay for 2nd line talent.
Please note that I don’t think it’s possible for everything I said to happen. I was trying to basically say, wait out a few contracts, give the kids experience and teams will be calling when they need you to be a third team, you don’t need to steal their stars. Just reliable players.
Obviously add and remove anything I said but I think people get what I mean.
After watching what happened at LCA last night, there is NO doubt the wings have to get this right! Prospects won’t cut it for a fan base that told everyone how they felt within the 1st 5 minutes of the game!
This. 100%.
So when Friedman says, “I think” or “I heard (people say)” we are supposed to take that as gospel? … a snake oil salesman in another outfit.
There are facts, then there is this. Not the same.
I have trouble understanding the changes to ltir. I’d assume that unless Barkov is out for season, It would be pretty difficult to add Larkin and his cap hit. Lundell is 1 of 2 players with cap hit of 5m or more that can be traded. Reinhart has a 16 ntc. Don’t think Florida would be a better team trading either of them. Minny will have extra space if Faber is done for year. Watched game last night and saw Larkin get loudly booed. Subjecting himself to that makes me think nothing is imment and he expects to be on ice with them eventually. Don’t blame fans for being upset with team. Besides Larkin fiasco, there’s no reason Edvinsson shouldn’t be signed and playing.
Slick
I don’t understand the Wings’ position on Edvinsson.
Anaheim just signed a guy with 14 games NHL experience, Tristan Luneau, to a 6 year $42.5M deal.
They haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years. They need to start a rebuild, or should have already.
Eddy should have been signed mid-summer for 8 x $9.5M.
I don’t find fault with Larkin wanting out of Detroit, but his limited trade list has been less than helpful. However, Detroit needs to change their return demands to be more futures based because with all this uncertainty and mismanagement going on right now is the fact that they WILL NOT be in a position to compete this year! Sell your UFA’s and Larkin as soon as possible and play your youth!
Panthers Place Aleksander Barkov On LTIR
HOW LONG!!! they have yet to say………..
Larkin?????
Lundell?????
he played in 2 preseason games and this was the 2nd regular season game since he came back. not a good sign his knee didnt hold out. it looked bad
And the worse thing is, this time it was the OTHER knee.
At what point does ownership demand a “Breach of Contract “ clause that effectively removes any type of player trade restrictions like, modified team or NMC’s when the said player breaches and requests a trade, at that point the player should revoke any additional contract revisions other than salary amount. Backing out of a signed deal ala Larkin and Helle shouldn’t be able to handcuff the teams ability to facilitate a trade. Owners should battle for this as an addendum to the CBA. It sure sounds like Bettman isn’t a big fan of this new trend, I’m sure he’d be an ally for change.