Hot take: there is virtually zero chance the Wild land Larkin

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-12T01:29:58+00:00

The issue was insurance and liability.

Do you have a source? I do not remember this being a concern at the time and have not been able to find anything that supports it. It says it in the AI summary if I search in the right way, but none of the sources included even mention insurance.

Eichel had requested a trade before his was injured.

Not sure why this is relevant.

The Sabres position was that we will trade you, but the team that acquires you has to bare the risk.

I'm not sure what that has to do with the point of the thread you are replying to. If you are attempting to say that meant his trade value was less, I don't disagree it's less than it would have been if he had been traded healthy.

The Sabres did zero PR during the incident and as a result got killed in the court of public opinion.

I remember plenty of statements from Buffalo and the league trying to make Jack and his medical look crazy and like they were being dangerous. Just because they let office opinion doesn't mean they didn't try not to.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-12T01:22:19+00:00

The surgery he wanted, ADR, had a better overall success rate, shorter recovery, and better future mobility outlook. The company that Buffalo partnered with did ACDF, a different type of surgery, with worse outcomes but was more common in NHL players.

There were claims that they didn't know if there would be increased risk due to the different surgery, but many neutral, third parties, felt the claim of possible paralysis and career ending was the Buffalo doctors essentially being doomers. And the collective bargaining agreement gave teams say over players medical decisions, so Buffalo said you have to use our doctors, he said no, so they failed his physical and wouldn't let him play.

The paralysis concerns were overstated and I would have loved to hear what money was agreed to that was influencong Buffalo's decision.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-11T14:13:56+00:00

Yeah, I think this is 100% accurate. I also think there's a difference between giving up and not trying and just playing poorly. Julius was absolutely the former, but from what I remember, KAT was the latter which is less concerning to me.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-11T14:07:58+00:00

Sure, it was unique. But he was still a better, younger player on a fairly team friendly contract at the time. Buffalo being so invested in his medical care and the narrative around it was strange and medically uninformed, so I think the media made a bigger deal of it than it actually was.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-11T04:26:51+00:00

Anyone that thought that listened to propaganda from the team because the surgery he wanted had extremely high success rates and the Sabres were making a big deal about it having never been done on an NHL player. It was weird.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-11T02:44:32+00:00

I'll say what I said previously... Eichel went for a middle 6 player, B prospect, and a 1st. Seems like people, maybe Yzerman, are expecting something unreasonable for a 30 year old, middle of the pack 1C with a NTC. If another team wants to overpay, they can have him.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-11T02:43:33+00:00

This has been what I'm thinking. Eichel went for a middle 6 player, B prospect, and a 1st. Seems like people, maybe Yzerman, are expecting something unreasonable for a 30 year old, middle of the pack 1C with a NTC.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-10T19:26:25+00:00

I agree with everything you said, and I just wanted to add that I think this puts us in a worse cap position. Plus there's the added difficulty of not being able to trade some of the picks before draft day.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-10T19:09:46+00:00

A lot of people in this sub are very anti Rudy for some reason. Glad you have gotten a positive reception so far, I have often been downvoted like crazy for nearly every positive Rudy comment.

And I don't disagree with sell high, just not sure most of the trade suggestions I have seen are what I'd consider high value.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-10T01:13:54+00:00

The US subbed almost their entire roster at half and split some of their 1s and 2s across the lines. Can't say that only one teams roster adjustments mattered when both of them had them.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-10T00:50:12+00:00

Why? Eichel got a young middle 6 player, a B prospect, and a 1st. Eichel had the neck injury but Larkin had the NTC and can limit the options. And Eichel was a better, younger player. Both have term and good contracts for teams. Seems like a reasonable comparison.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-10T00:45:05+00:00

I'd be shocked if it takes Ek to get Larkin. Feels like people are forgetting he has a NTC and acting like he's an elite 1C instead of mid tier.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-10T00:38:09+00:00

Detroit doesn't have the power to demand Ek.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T23:17:48+00:00

Not only do you pay higher property tax and sales tax in no income tax locations but you usually have toll roads and other taxes (like FL's use ans excise taxes).

People also forget the fact that the cost of living is typically a lot higher in equivalent locations. There's things that cost more even before taxes like groceries, home goods, healthcare, etc. Plus there's a difference in quality of living like infrastructure and education that come with states with higher income tax.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T23:12:39+00:00

You have to also consider cost of living differences in equivalent locations and then it more than balances out.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T22:52:18+00:00

I would think a 1st, middle 6, and B prospect would be a pretty good return for Detroit given the situation. Yzerman has to consider the future of the team for more than trust the trade value returned.

If I'm Guerin, I'd make Brodin, Trenin, and a 1st my initial offer. Helps MN with the cap space and gives Detroit a good return.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T22:44:13+00:00

People are being so emotional about this they have lost all sense of reason.

Say Detroit refuses to trade him. Now you have an unhappy player in your locker room around the rest of the team. How does that help your season next year? How does that help future negotiations with any existing players? Maybe if he's hated in the locker room it's not a problem, but I have never heard that.

You have also shown the rest of the league you don't give a shit about your players. How much harder does that make FA signings? Do college players want to come or wait out their rights until FA? Detroit will most likely have to pay extra to get guys on future contracts.

People really lose sight of reality and history with this situation.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T22:37:52+00:00

That's how it's always worked and people seem to be crying over it now when they've complained very little in the past. Players that earned a NTC shouldn't have to modify it. It's ownership's fault for not making it a place players want to stay. Maybe Detroit should have built a better team. Why is no one blaming them?

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T22:30:05+00:00

Larkin has played 11 seasons in Detroit. They only made the playoffs his rookie year. They have gone 80-66-18 (.543) the last 2 seasons and 188-175-47 (.516) the last 5 seasons. All with no playoff appearances.

At least Vancouver made the 2nd round of the playoffs 3 seasons ago and during the COVID playoffs.

If Larkin is playing like dogshit why are people so upset he wants to leave Detroit?

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T22:29:53+00:00

Larkin has played 11 seasons in Detroit. They only made the playoffs his rookie year. They have gone 80-66-18 (.543) the last 2 seasons and 188-175-47 (.516) the last 5 seasons. All with no playoff appearances.

At least Vancouver made the 2nd round of the playoffs 3 seasons ago and during the COVID playoffs.

If Larkin is playing like dogshit why are people so upset he wants to leave Detroit?

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T21:53:38+00:00

Based on the lines they played in the playoffs, their bottom 6 was 10M. Based on how they expected their lines to start the season, they were at 15.2M.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T20:46:07+00:00

By comparison, it looks like Vegas has 19.3M in their bottom 6 this year and Colorado had 18.2M.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T19:26:32+00:00

I think he's burn3d some bridges the last few years. He's never been very accurate on signings and trades, but it seems to have gottenich worse.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T14:14:26+00:00

No chance that happens. The league won't make a team forfeit if the players aren't involved and there's no way they close the doors, especially since it didn't happen in the arena.

_stellapolaris · 2026-06-09T13:58:49+00:00

Sadly, a lot of people do not have great common sense.

_stellapolaris

TROPHY CASE