The Philadelphia Flyers could be major players in a potential Dylan Larkin trade, but not in the way that most fans would want it to be.
No, there is no indication that the Flyers are suddenly a destination for Larkin. Perhaps the 31-year-old might change his mind. But that doesn’t appear to be the case at the moment.
Nevertheless, there could be a way for Philly to play a massive role in a possible deal. The Flyers could become a facilitator in a deal.
That facilitation could come in the form of becoming involved as part of a three-way trade in which the Flyers could help grease the wheels between the two main parties in the deal.
The main issue here is between the Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota Wild. The Wild have long lusted for Larkin. But their salary cap situation hasn’t made a deal easy.
That’s where Philadelphia could make life easier for everyone. One of the players rumored to be on the block would be Yakov Trenin. He would amount to a cap dump for the Wild in order to make the math work on Larkin’s cap hit.
And it just so happens that Philly could help make that happen.
"According to Flyers sources, they would be willing to absorb Trenin’s contract for the right price. Stramel is a player that the Flyers have a level of interest in and would potentially be the cost of doing business for them to take on the remaining term on Trenin’s contract. The Red Wings have the cap space to eat Trenin’s salary if they wanted to, as a Central Division executive pointed out to DFO, but the Flyers are willing to play a part in a deal if there’s a necessity for it."
The comments, as stated by Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco, don’t necessarily point towards anything certain. But if there was a need to help facilitate things for everyone, the Flyers could get a cut out of the entire transaction.
Trenin could offer some bottom-six depth for Flyers
The idea of acquiring Trenin would evidently go beyond the player himself. For making life easier on everyone, the Flyers would get something meaningful in return, be it draft picks or prospects.
But what about Trenin himself?
Well, he’s a bottom-six guy who can kill penalties. He plays about 11 minutes a night 5v5, and offers very little in the way of scoring. The 29-year-old has two assists in 16 games this season.
But at 6’2” and 200 pounds, he is the kind of guy who can help offset those “soft” comments from Sean Couturier.
The Flyers would be on the hook for Trenin’s $3.5 million cap hit for one more year beyond this season. Then again, Trenin did have a 17-goal season back in 2021-22.
So, who knows? Perhaps a change of scenery and spending time under Rick Tocchet could bring Trenin back to the potential he once showed with the Nashville Predators.
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