While most of the hockey world focuses on the Stanley Cup Finals, fans of teams not involved have been following trade rumors and trying to see where the start will go and how their teams are positioning themselves for the offseason.
The Philadelphia Flyers, with their run to the second round of the playoffs, have found themselves considered buyers in the trade and free-agent market, being tied to players like Darnell Nurse and Mason McTavish. They also have many media experts wondering if they could be players in the market for Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings' top center, who has made a surprising trade demand and is looking to move to a playoff team.
Now his initial reported approved trade list consisted of three teams. Those were the Minnesota Wild, the Florida Panthers, or the Vegas Golden Knights. There is some speculation from Pierre Lebrun that Larkin has expanded his list as per the Red Wings' request, and even further speculation that the Red Wings are also looking for a third team to get involved to balance the scales.
Now, Larkin is a high-end center, and the Flyers should be interested in him flat out, but there is no telling as to whether or not they are on his approved teams list at the moment, or if he could be swayed into accepting a trade to the organization. What we do know is that he would consider the Vegas Golden Knights, who are currently trying to stave off elimination and keep themselves alive against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Winning the series or not doesn't matter all that much, because Vegas has been a playoff team since its inception. They have made three trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, winning one. They'll be right back in contention next year, most likely, especially if they add a piece like Larkin. However, they have a lot of free agents to sign or moves to make going into the 2026-2027 season.
They're already in a cap crunch for next season, having nine forwards and five defenders signed to contracts. If they decide to take a run at Larkin, they'll be missing out on bringing back some of their players and maybe even a key contributor. This is where the Flyers can make a play.
Flyers could help Vegas out in trade by acquiring one of their players
One such player is Pavel Dorofeyev. He's an RFA and is coming off his second consecutive 30+ goal season. Typically, he's the kind of player you'd love to sign to a longer-term deal, but frankly, the Golden Knights might not have the assets to. This is where the Flyers could deal. If they send draft picks, like their first-rounder this year or one of their two projected first-round picks in 2027, they might sway the Knights to ship Dorofeyev's rights to the Flyers, and it would give them some ammo to send to the Red Wings if Larkin is their prize.
This is something the Flyers have executed before. A deal like this brought Kimmo Timmonen and Scott Hartnell to the Flyers from the Nashville Predators. Considering the Flyers are picking 21st, their pick will be better than the Knights, who will pick nearly last or dead last, and it gives the Knights another pick, which is important since they were stripped of their second-round pick this year by the NHL.
With the Golden Knights caught between a rock-hard cap and hard personnel decisions, the Flyers should be calling with a lifeline, for a price.
