We're A Week Away From The NHL Season And Nobody Wants Dylan Larkin or Connor Hellebuyck
Jonathan Kozub. Getty Images.The USA men's Olympic hockey team may have done irreparable damage to the idea that players have power in the NHL. We are now days away from the start of the 2026-27 season, and there hasn't seemed to be an ounce of movement on the Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck situations. These guys all came back from the Olympics clearly feeling the buzz from winning gold, and decided they'd force their way off of shitty NHL teams to go chase some Stanley Cups.
Now sure, it worked out for Brady Tkachuk to get out of Ottawa and down to Florida with his brother. But it wouldn't shock me to find out the Ottawa Senators pulled that move just to build a tampering case against the Panthers. But for Larkin and Hellebuyck? It has them both sitting with their thumb up their asses right now just a few days away from the start of the season. At this point, all of these GMs have to be pissed. Steve Yzerman was so pissed that he literally quit his job, and now it's Shawn Horcoff's responsibility to figure out what to do with Larkin. But a guy like Kevin Cheveldayoff isn't just going to move on from Connor Hellebuyck for pennies on the dollar when he still has him under contract for 5 more seasons. You don't want to play? That's fine. But a trade isn't happening just because you want one.
And then you have to wonder about other GMs around the league. Hellebuyck is one of the best goalies on the planet, so he's obviously an enticing target. Dylan Larkin is a really good player who makes any team better. But are GMs really going to send the package these teams are looking for in a trade to acquire a guy who has already proven he's willing to completely quit on his team while still under contract for 5 more years?
A good amount of NHL GMs are former players themselves. A lot of them at this point are guys who played in the 80s and 90s. Times when shit like this simply wouldn't fly. That there was a right way and a wrong way to go about business, and demanding a trade when you're still under contract for 5 years is the wrong way. Just listen to the way a guy like Darren McCarty talks about Dylan Larkin.
I'm sure he's a little more biased against Larkin right now as a Red Wings legend, but I'm also sure a lot of GMs around the league feel pretty similar. It's a whole new world out there in the NHL right now with the way the players operate. But the GMs can still stand in the way of that as much as they can to keep things the same. All it takes is one non-former player like Eric Tulsky to make a move, and then it all gets blown up. But until then, maybe these GMs are all happy to see guys like Larkin and Hellebuyck sit at home and feel silly while not getting exactly what they wanted.
It's just weird that there hasn't been any actual chatter about teams trying to work out a deal for either of them. All we've heard is that the Hellebuyck offers have been comically lowballed, and that Larkin won't budge off of his list of teams he'd be willing to accept a trade to. The season starts of the 29th. He might want to reconsider that stance in the next few days.
Sidenote: What would make the most sense right now is Larkin for an Adam Fantilli sign and trade. I feel like not nearly enough people are talking about the fact that the Fantilli extension still isn't done yet. I doubt Larkin would want to end up in Columbus, but at least he'd have Werenski there.