The Bruins cannot let this OPPORTUNITY slip...

The Bruins are 13-4-1 and first in the Atlantic Division. Sunday, they beat the Florida Panthers 4-1 for their 7th straight home win and Jeremy Swayman stopped 41 of 42 shots he faced. Meanwhile, in Detroit, the best center available on the market right now is not playing hockey at all. Dylan Larkin scored 67 points last season and played 10 games this year and Detroit stripped him of the captaincy and now he's sitting out. Then Frank Cervelli said that the Boston Bruins could sneak in on a Larkin deal, and he doesn't understand why Larkin doesn't include Boston in his list already. Boston has one superstar and a lot of 14-point guys. So Larkin is the move that turns the Bruins into a real cup contender, and what would Boston have to pay for this? Larkin asked out of Detroit in June, and Steve Eisman confirmed it on June 27th, saying he would work with a short list of teams as he has a no-trade clause. Since then, he has played 10 games this season with two goals and six points, and he will not play again until he is traded. Last year, he scored 34 goals and 67 points in 74 games. His agent, Brisson, said Dillon has had enough of that situation. Detroit is 7-8-3 and last in the Atlantic with 17 points, so the Red Wings are paying for a standoff with a captain they no longer have. Detroit wants a return, and the Wild have already offered multiple first-round picks. Detroit is reportedly asking for a player that helps them now, and on the Wild's side, that player is Daniil Yurov. Dallas heard that ask first as Detroit asked for Wyatt Johnston, and their answer was no way. That ask is Boston's opening because Detroit wants NHL players and Boston has two that could work here. But Larkin just can't be sent anywhere. His contract carries a full no trade clause for this season and next, so he decides where he goes. The 10 teams he picked are Florida, Minnesota, Vegas, Carolina, Colorado, Dallas, New Jersey, Tampa Bay, Utah, and Washington. Boston is not on the list. The clause matters for timing. It is a full no trade for this season and next, then a modified no trade for 28-29 to 20-30-31. Elliotte Friedman said the list could be altered, and Darren Dreger called it unchanged. Cervelli's read on this all is that Boston wants to be in the mix this year for winning the Stanley Cup, and he thinks that Dylan Larkin would be a real difference maker for this team, so the missing name really stands out here. The list started at three teams and is now ten, and Connor Ryan wrote on November 4th that the Bruins might be jockeying for Larkin. No reporter has confirmed that Boston and Larkin have engaged in trade talks, so everything we're going to talk about today is our own mock trades. And this trade is a tricky one because you need Larkin to say yes to the team and then you also need to have Detroit to say yes to the trade that value that is coming back as well. So there needs to be two yeses involved when normally there's only one yes, but I do think that the Boston Bruins are a team that Larkin could see himself winning a cup on. Here is why the Boston Bruins would even want to take a chance on him. David Pasternak has 24 points, the next best Bruin has 15, and three more have 14. Pasternak has 8 goals and 16 assists, so 24 points is not just his shooting, it is him carrying the line. Elias Lindholm has 15 points and Fraser Minton has 12, and that is the whole center group behind him. NBC Boston's Goss wrote that the Bruins two needs are a number one center and a top four defenseman and he called the cost for Larkin very high. Larkin averages 21-41 a night and 3.2 shots on goal a game which is in the 96th percentile of the league. He also gives the puck away two times a game which is the first percentile so he comes with a flaw too. A center who shoots like that is a second star that this team doesn't have. The cap says yes and by more than what you would actually think. Boston's cap hit is $98,772,083 against a ceiling of $104 million, which leaves $5,227,917. Larkin counts on $8.7 million against the cap through 2030-31. Next year is easier because the planner has Boston's 27-28 commitments at $84,790,417, so the contracts keep fitting after Zaka and Laurie expire. That means money has to go out and the two pieces we're sending are both on contracts that end next summer. Zaka alone leaves the Bruins $1,277,917 of space. Zaka and Laurie together leave $4,477,917 because the salary cap is only $750,000 more than the salary going out. So the cap says either version of this trade we're going to talk about works and only one of them where they get to keep the first round pick. And if you want to see this trade happen, go down below and hit that like button. Version one of this trade is Pavel Zaka and a first round pick for Dylan Larkin. Zaka has 14 points this season, 5 goals and 9 assists and he is on the top line with Pasternak and Pasternak. He makes $4.75 million on a contract that expires in 2027 and it carries a modified no trade clause so he has to agree to go. He has .82 points a game which is in the 86th percentile. That is what Detroit wants back in this trade, a top six center who can fit back in their lineup. Now the pick, Boston holds its own 2027, 2029, and 30 firsts, and it does not have a 2028 first because that one is owned by Utah. The 2027 first is the one Detroit would ask for because it is the next draft and it is a late pick if Boston keeps winning. The Wild offered multiple first round picks on a reported deal, so Zaka plus one is a different kind of bid. The return is a top line player on an expiring deal and a late pick, and the return is the number one center Center signed through 2031. Version 2 is Laurie and Zaka packaged together without a first-round pick. Laurie is a $3.2 million defenseman on an expiring deal, and he becomes a restricted free agent in 2027. He has three goals this season and plays on the third pair with Brunet and has .5 takeaways a game and ranks 95th in the percentile in the league. This is a young NHL defenseman that Detroit can play now and still have him next season when they sign an extension. Boston pays in players and keeps the 2027 first, and it still has $4,477,917 of cap space to add another piece. There is a second name in this. Dreger said Boston would love to make a deal for Simon Evanson, probably more than Larkin. Evanson is a restricted free agent who has to sign by December 1st, so Detroit has two problems to solve. A package with a defenseman in it, I think would entice Detroit because they're going to have to figure out what to do with And if they have to trade him, then they have Lauri now. Who they can have for the future of their team. And I definitely think it solves both problems for them. And Zaka is not just a throw-in, he is a player that losing him would actually hurt. He scored twice in a 6-2 win at Pittsburgh and has six points in a four-game point streak. He plays in the top line next to Pastrnak and Paterka, so Larkin would be walking into the best spot on the ice. The Bruins' goal leaders are Pastrnak with eight, Lindholm with seven, and Fraser, Minton, and James Hagens with six each. Minton and Hagens are the young centers, and NBC's Boston's Goss wrote that Boston shouldn't give either one of them up for Larkin. This is why I really like the trade of Zaka and Lauri for Larkin, because then you get to keep your future in Minton and Hagens. Zaka's deal ends in June, so Boston has to pay him or replace him anyway. Larkin is signed at $8.7 million through 30-31, so Boston swaps a contract that expires for one that does. Lauri makes $3.2 million, and he is a restricted free agent next summer, so Boston keeps his rights only if it signs. Look at Detroit's side. Its top scorers are DeBrincat and Raymond with 16 points each, and Arvidsson with 15. Larkin's 6 points came in 10 games, and he is gone, so the Red Wings need scoring now, and Zaka is a forward with 14 points who can play top-line minutes tomorrow. Detroit is 7-8-3 with 17 points, and a young defenseman like Lurie gives it a player for a lineup this week instead of a pick it can use until the draft. None of this is a reported offer, but I think this is a great starting point for a deal for Larkin. So why now? Friedman said on Saturday headlines that the other teams are waiting on Detroit and that Pittsburgh and Chicago are starting to stir. George Malik's read is that Larkin is more likely to take teams off the list than add them. Detroit is at 17 points in bottom of their division, so every week that they go on without trading Larkin, it's just going to cost them more of the season. Boston is on pace for 123 points, which is a first place team deciding whether Whether first is enough. Boston plays Montreal on Friday and Minnesota on Sunday, both at home, and the Wild are the team that already has multiple first-round offers in front of Detroit. Boston has the lead in cap room, but what it doesn't have the lead in is a second star. There are real risks involved here, too. Larkin's contract runs through 30-31 at $8.7 million, and Zaka leaves a hole next to Pasternak. Giveaways are the other risk. He's in the first percentile at two a game, and Boston is paying a top-line winger for him. Right now, I think Boston should go all in and try to win a Stanley Cup, and the way to do that is to go out and get Dylan Larkin. And they got a lot of cap space to work with. That's one thing that a lot of teams don't have, and after a trade like this, they would still have $4 million available to get a deal done at the deadline as well. And obviously there are some doubts to this as well as Dylan Larkin would have to even say yes to Boston, but I think if a first place team in their division comes knocking, he's not going to say no. And obviously they were racing against the clock because there are so many teams in on this Larkin player, so the Boston Bruins are going to have to step out with the best offer.