Ahead of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, two massive bombs were dropped surrounding the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers on the trade front, as well as some details of a nixed trade deadline deal surfaced today.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed some shocking news on Thursday afternoon when he shared that Dylan Larkin has recently requested a trade from Detroit. Friedman shared that Larkin and his representatives, along with General Manager Steve Yzerman, did not wish to comment on the situation.

Larkin, 29, was drafted by the Red Wings 15th overall in the 2014 NHL Draft. He has spent his entire 11-year NHL career with his home-state team, tallying 276 goals and 367 assists for 643 points in 808 games as a Red Wing. Larkin has served as the captain since January of 2021; however, things between him and the organization began to sour following the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.

Heading into that deadline, the Red Wings were one point out of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. This was the closest the Red Wings had been to the playoffs since they first made it in Larkin’s rookie year. Yet the Red Wings brass decided to stand pat and not make any additions at the deadline to help their push for the playoffs.

Detroit wound up missing the playoffs by five points, and Larkin voiced his frustration at his team’s lack of moves to bolster their lineup in March:

“I think, especially March, it was hard and we didn’t do anything,” Larkin said. “And I felt the group, we didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kinda down about it. It’d be nice to add something and bring a spark on the ice and a morale boost as well.”

Yzerman heard these comments and listened to his disgruntled captain this past trade deadline, trading their first-round pick for Justin Faulk. At the time, Detroit held the third spot in the Atlantic Division, three points out of the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning for a share of the division lead. However, that still was not enough, as the Red Wings missed the postseason for the 10th straight season. That seemed to be the final straight for Larkin in Detroit.

Larkin has five more years at $8.7 million annually. His contract carries a full no-trade clause for the next two seasons before turning into a 10-team trade list for the remaining three years. In a depleted centre UFA market, Larkin immediately jumps to the top target board for all other 31 NHL teams around the league.

To put our Canucks-tinted glasses on, what could this mean in terms of a potential Elias Pettersson move? First off, it likely hurts his value from an around-the-league perspective. However, when the Pettersson trade rumours were at their peak, Detroit was one of the teams reported to have interest. If the Red Wings need to fill the void down the middle left by Larkin, Detroit’s interest could spark back up.

Just over 30 minutes before Friedman broke the Larkin news, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported that Darnell Nurse’s time with the Edmonton Oilers is running out. Whether that be this year, with one year left before his full no-trade clause turns into a 10-team trade list, the two sides look to be heading in separate directions.

In the article, Spector said, “If Nurse, 31, says he wants to be an Oiler for another season, then trade talk will be shelved and the team will welcome him back for one more year. When he realizes that a trade is imminent, however, two sources have told Sportsnet that the Oilers’ preference would be to move Nurse before the start of next season.”

Nurse signed a massive eight-year, $9.25 million AAV extension with the Oilers in 2021, following a season in which he scored 16 goals and 36 points in 56 games. However, since then, Nurse has struggled mightily defensively and lost his top offensive defenceman role to Evan Bouchard. He has since seen his minutes decrease by over four minutes per game and is considered way overpaid for the role he plays on the team.

Whether Nurse wants to leave Edmonton or not, he may not have a choice. With the writing on the wall that they are going to move him next year to potentially a far less desirable destination, he could help facilitate a move this year to land him in a place he wants to play. Sometimes, that is the more attractive option for a player on the outside looking in.

Again, to put our Canucks-tinted glasses on, could Darnell Nurse be a cap-dump target for the Canucks? Obviously, Nurse at $9.25 million AAV for the next four seasons is not an appetizing deal for any team and will surely come with a sweetener to take it on. However, we’ve seen other rebuilding teams around the league use this strategy of taking on bad money to acquire draft capital or other young assets. Now, Canucks fans likely don’t want to help out the rival Oilers – like they did last season when they took on Evander Kane – however, the Canucks aren’t going to be competing any time soon, and if they can get ahead by doing so, it may be worth exploring.

On Thursday’s edition of DFO Rundown, Insider Edition, Daily Faceoff’s David Pagnotta revealed the details of a trade that did not go through at this past NHL Trade Deadline between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

“After the trade deadline, Kent Hughes said we had something big; it didn’t work out. … It was Matthew Knies.

“The Leafs and Habs had an agreement in place that would have sent Matthew Knies to Montreal. Alexander Zharkovsky was going the other way, along with another prospect and two first-round picks. That was the package that was agreed upon. There were some complications ahead of the deadline. It didn’t get through.”

Pagnotta later confirmed that neither Michael Hage nor David Reinbacher were the unnamed prospect going the other way in the trade.

Knies, 23, was selected in the second round (57th overall) by the Maple Leafs in the 2021 NHL Draft. He had a strong 2024-25 contract season, scoring 29 goals and 29 assists for 58 points in 78 games. His efforts earned him a six-year, $7.75 million AAV contract this past offseason. In the first year of his new contract, Knies played a similar role on the team in terms of ice time, but his production increased, upping his career-high point total to 66 in 79 games.

Zharkovsky, 19, was selected in the second round (34th overall) by the Canadiens in the 2025 NHL Draft. The 6’2″ Russian winger had a strong first year in the KHL, scoring 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points in 59 games with the Salavat Yulaev UFA. Zharkovsky’s impressive rookie season earned him the KHL’s Alexei Cherepanov Award for rookie of the year. He is considered one of the Canadiens’ top prospects.

Pagnotta mentioned that the two sides are presumably going to revisit the deal, despite the Maple Leafs now being run by a new regime led by John Chayka and Mats Sundin. He also shared that Toronto’s new regime is willing to listen to anyone on its roster, except Auston Matthews.

We will have to wait and see if the Maple Leafs and Canadiens circle back on this deal. However, the two rivals don’t like trading with each other. There have been just two deals between the two sides since 2000 – Mikhail Grabovski to Montreal in 2008 and Tomas Plekanec to Toronto in 2018.

You can watch the full segment below!