Dylan Larkin apparently wants to be traded away from the Detroit Red Wings.
That’s all well and good, until you consider the fact that his contract also has a no-movement clause in it.
And therein lies the NHL’s odd conundrum when it comes to these situations.
Star veteran players like Larkin can get that no-move ability built into their contract, which means that they have to approve any potential trade destination. That’s a strong right to earn, and it makes sense that the players would want that to remain a possibility.
But it gets really confusing in the realm of trade requests.
Not only does Larkin want to leave, but he also wants full control of where he ends up.
If the teams Larkin wants to go to don’t make the Red Wings an adequate offer in return for their captain, what is Detroit supposed to do?
They can go for a subpar deal, or they can keep an unhappy Larkin around. Neither is a great option.
While this would be a tough thing to ever actually pull off, a mechanism that removes the no-movement clause after a trade request might be a little more fair. It would allow the player and team to both hold some of the cards.
But as it stands, the Red Wings are in a lose-lose situation. Larkin is pretty much in full control here.
The best Detroit can hope is that a place Larkin wants to end up also makes a fair offer that doesn’t set them back from this tough moment.
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