MTPS: How the Dylan Larkin Trade Request Affects the New York Rangers

Elliotte Friedman's timing is impecable.

I had just finished writing 3,000 words unpacking various trade rumors surrounding Vincent Trocheck when Elliotte drops this little nugget.

OK, so what does this mean?

Well, for one thing, social media has been blowing up since this news broke with takes flying all over the place.

For another, it means that I have to go back into the MTPS archives for this column from last summer:

If there's even a .001% chance that they would consider moving Larkin it's because he and Steve Yzerman have clearly not been vibing lately. Larkin was very clear with his disappointment that Stevie Y didn't do more (anything) to improve the team at last year's trade deadline, and the additions of James Van Riemsdyk and John Gibson this summer are probably not the kind of improvements Larkin was hoping for given Detroit's cap space. So if Larkin makes it clear that he's had enough and wants out, this is probably a really solid return for Detroit.

Dylan Larkin was frustrated last year and he's still frustrated. Larkin didn't mince words after the season, and frankly, he's got a right to be pissed. Reportedly, there were real opportunities for Yzerman to improve the team, but he chose against making any of his top prospects available for players he deemed to be "rentals." Instead, Yzerman surrendered an unprotected 2026 first round pick, a 2026 third round pick, Dmitri Buchelnikov, and Justin Holl for 34-year-old defenseman Justin Faulk, and traded a 2026 fourth round pick to the Ottawa Senators to reacquire 38-year-old David Perron.

Shockingly—which is to say, not shockingly—neither of these moves helped Detroit secure a playoff spot.

We'll never know what Detroit had on the table or what they could have acquired if Yzerman were more aggressive. What we do know is that what he did this year didn't work and it comes on the heels of his team captain, Dylan Larkin, being, shall we say, "less than enamored" with his GM's strategy at the deadline a year ago. The Athletic's Scott Wheeler recently ranked the Red Wings as having the fourth best prospect pool in the NHL.

All of this is to say that prospects are cool, but parades are cooler. Sometimes you have to make exceptions to your strategy. And when you are seeing a weakened Eastern Conference with no clear favorite, your team core is starting to get to the point where it's time to shit or get off the pot, and your captain is begging for help, that seems like a good time to make one of those exceptions and go the extra mile.

Yzerman has said recently that he's going to spend this summer making moves and that no one is off the table. The question becomes: Is it too little, too late?

That's Detroit's problem, though. I promised you a column talking about how this impacts the New York Rangers. And I try to deliver on my promises to each and every one of you. As I see it, there are four ways this could impact the Rangers:

• The Rangers decide to trade for Larkin
• A team interested in acquiring Vincent Trocheck (Minnesota Wild or Boston Bruins) trades for Dylan Larkin
• A team not in a place to acquire Vincent Trocheck (New Jersey Devils) trades for Dylan Larkin
• Steve Yzerman becomes so desperate to quash this and placate Larkin that he's willing to go all-in on this year

Each of these outcomes has different positives and negatives for the Rangers.