The Washington Capitals have engaged with the Detroit Red Wings in trade discussions about Dylan Larkin, though the extent of those conversations is unknown, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.
LeBrun reported in his latest trade market column that Washington has made contact “to some level” and identified Ilya Protas as the piece Detroit would want in any package for its former captain.
Here is LeBrun’s assessment of the Capitals’ position, from The Athletic.
“My sense is the Caps have engaged to some level, but I can’t tell how hard they’ve pushed. Ilya Protas would be an obvious target for Detroit in any package.”
Dylan Larkin’s market has moved quickly since the summer. The 30-year-old center requested a trade in June, was stripped of the captaincy before training camp and told the Red Wings last week he would not play until he was dealt. Detroit suspended him without pay on Oct. 29. He has two goals and six points in 10 games this season and carries an $8.7 million cap hit through 2030-31.
His approved list of 10 teams, first reported by the Detroit Free Press and confirmed by The Athletic, includes Washington. That makes a Capitals deal permissible rather than imminent, and neither team has commented publicly on what an offer would look like.
Ilya Protas gives Detroit a different route to a Dylan Larkin deal
The Red Wings have reportedly been looking for a younger center to build around in a post-Dylan Larkin lineup, and the Capitals are not in position to send back a proven top-six pivot. Protas offers Detroit another way in. Washington drafted him 75th overall in 2024 as a left wing and has since used him in the middle, and he has won 52.6 percent of his faceoffs this season.
Detroit’s asking price, as reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger, is “two A-quality prospects, a top-nine forward who can play in the NHL right now, and a first-round draft pick,” which means Protas would be one part of a return rather than all of it. The Athletic’s ranking of Larkin’s destinations also noted that with Aliaksei Protas already in Washington, it “feels like a stretch” for the Capitals to move his younger brother.
Edited by Sonali Verma
