Buffalo Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen has yet to land a big fish on the NHL trade market despite making a push to land St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, Blues center Robert Thomas and newly minted New Jersey Devils goalie Connor Hellebuyck, among others.
It sounds like you can add another marquee name to the list: Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet discussed the Sabres-Larkin connection during Thursday's episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast. The update comes after the longtime Wings star increased his list of approved destinations to 10 teams, but Buffalo missed the cut.
"Now we've got 10 and maybe another one or two. It's been reported, and I think it's true, that Buffalo has tried to get in there," Friedman said. "... You know what the Sabres have to do? They have to schedule a game at home against Minnesota where every Sabres fan gets in there and yells 'We want Larkin' so they can get on the list too. You know, everybody's trying."
Chad DeDominicis of Expected Buffalo first reported Buffalo and Detroit "have had conversations" about Larkin despite the Sabres' lack of presence, at least so far, on his trade list.
ESPN's Greg Wyshynski reported last week Larkin is willing to accept moves to the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, Utah Mammoth, Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals.
Although it's unclear Larkin has so far been unwilling to consider Buffalo, which features a young roster that reached the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but it'll be interesting to see whether speculation about the Sabres' interest will sway his opinion.
Kekalainen's group is off to a sluggish start (5-4-3) and the mediocre performance led the longtime NHL executive to hold meetings within the organization about what needs to change.
One of the biggest issues so far is a lack of offensive consistency, both at even strength and on the power play. Larkin could obviously provide a major boost in those areas.
The 30-year-old Michigan native, who played alongside Sabres star Tage Thompson during Team USA's run to a gold medal at this year's Winter Olympics, has recorded 649 points (278 goals and 371 assists) in 818 career games with Detroit. He's scored 179 of those points on the power play.
Buffalo also has ample trade assets, including NHL centers (Josh Norris or Ryan McLeod), prized prospects like Radim Mrtka and their first-round pick in the 2027 draft to use in potential trade talks.
It's all a moot point if Larkin doesn't add the Sabres to his list of acceptable destinations, though.
Dylan Larkin would fill the Buffalo Sabres' biggest need
While goaltending has been in the spotlight for Buffalo early in the new season, both because of the Hellebuyck rumors and the struggles of starting goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, a first-line center should be higher on Kekalainen's priority list.
The Sabres haven't been able to fill that crucial void since Jack Eichel was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021. They've often used Thompson in that role, but he'd be better served on the wing given his defensive and faceoff deficiencies.
Larkin doesn't rate among the NHL's elite centers like Eichel, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon or Auston Matthews, but he'd certainly represent a massive upgrade for Buffalo.
Along with his aforementioned scoring prowess, he's also won 52.8% of his career faceoffs and has averaged over 20 minutes of ice time in four straight seasons. He can handle the vital spot on the depth chart.
His hypothetical arrival would also take a lot of pressure off the Sabres' promising group of young centers, including Konsta Helenius, Noah Ostlund and Jiri Kulich. They've been asked to take on more prominent roles this year and the results have been mixed, though Ostlund has been impressive.
A top line of Thompson, Larkin and Zach Benson should be able to drive play at an elite rate, while also creating better matchups for the other lines in the club's top nine.
Would Larkin instantly make the Sabres a top-tier championship contender? Probably not. They'd still need to get more from their other forwards, which should happen eventually given the talent level, but exactly when that leap will occur is a key unknown. The goalie play must also improve immensely.
It's a blockbuster trade that would be a major step in the right direction, though. It'd also allow Kekalainen to put his mark on the roster after some failed high-profile pursuits since he took over the front office from Kevyn Adams in December.
There's nothing the veteran GM can do if Larkin decides he doesn't want to play in Buffalo, though.
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