The Detroit Red Wings finally grabbed a win Thursday, only their second win of the season against five losses, when they edged the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1. But Detroit still has multiple issues to solve, including figuring out the fate of disgruntled ex-captain Dylan Larkin. But a new trade pitch published Friday could answer the Red Wings’ questions.
In the trade pitch, published by the roster-building site PuckGM, the Red Wings pursue a blockbuster roster shake-up in a proposal that sends Larkin to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a six-player package built around Team USA Olympic hero Jack Hughes. The proposed deal would dramatically reshape both teams’ lineups, giving Detroit a chance to add a premier offensive talent while New Jersey would acquire an established center in Larkin.
Dylan Larkin asked the Detroit Red Wings for a trade in June, but he’s still playing for them.
The user-created blockbuster scenario on PuckGM sends Hughes, his brother Luke Hughes and Stefan Noesen from the New Jersey Devils to Detroit for Larkin, Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper and a 2027 first-round pick. Red Wings interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said this week that he has “zero interest” in dealing away Edvinsson.
Would this massive trade idea change his mind?
Dylan Larkin Trade Request and the Players Involved
Larkin, 30, has spent all 11 NHL seasons in Detroit and ranks 10th in franchise history with 643 points (276 goals, 367 assists) in 808 games, according to NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika. The Waterford, Michigan, native, born July 30, 1996, went 15th overall in 2014 and has not played in the postseason since his rookie year.
Former general manager Steve Yzerman said June 27 that Larkin’s agent had requested the trade, and Larkin was then stripped of the captaincy he held for six seasons.
He still plays while the saga drags on, according to The Detroit News, under an eight-year, $69.6 million contract that runs through 2030-31.
Jack Hughes, 25, born May 14, 2001, was the first overall pick in 2019. The Orlando native has 437 points in 436 games, including 99 in 2022-23, on an eight-year, $64 million extension that expires 2030.
Luke Hughes, 23, a Manchester, New Hampshire, native, went fourth overall in 2021 after two seasons at Michigan. His seven-year, $63 million deal signed in October 2025 carries a $9 million cap hit.
Edvinsson, 23, a 6-foot-6 Swedish defenseman, went sixth overall in 2021 and has 60 points in 175 games. He remains an unsigned restricted free agent, and Detroit must sign him by Dec. 1 or he sits out the season.
“Simon is someone that’s very hard to come by,” interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said, according to The Hockey News reporter Michael Whitaker.
Kasper, 22, an Austrian center drafted eighth overall in 2022, had 37 points in 77 games in 2024-25 before falling to 19 in 81. He is in the final year of his entry-level deal, an $886,666 cap hit. Noesen, 33, a Plano, Texas, native taken 21st overall in 2011, posted a career-best 41-point season with New Jersey in 2024-25.
New Jersey Devils Would Lose Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes
Detroit’s cap hit would climb roughly $10.2 million to about $98.3 million, leaving about $5.7 million under the $104 million ceiling. New Jersey’s payroll would drop by the same amount, to about $93.8 million.
Would the Devils really move both brothers?
“Me and Luke are playing together,” Jack Hughes said at the NHL Player Media Tour in September, according to Daily Faceoff reporter Tyler Kuehl. No reporting indicates New Jersey has discussed moving either one.
On paper, Detroit gets the younger, longer-signed pieces for a 30-year-old center who asked out, an unsigned defenseman and a forward whose scoring fell by nearly half. New Jersey would gain cap room and a first-round pick but lose its top center and a top-pair defenseman.
Horcoff has ruled out a rebuild, according to NHL.com, so Detroit would trade youth and a first-rounder for established stars. That ends the Larkin standoff, yet it thins the pool of young talent a rebuild stockpiles.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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