'We want Larkin': Canadiens fans send message to Red Wings star

MONTREAL — The chants started before Saturday’s game even got underway, and they only grew louder as it went on.

“We want Larkin,” fans at the Bell Centre screamed, appealing to the Michigan native to consider a move to Montreal.

The Canadiens weren’t on Dylan Larkin’s trade list when he submitted it to then-general manager Steve Yzerman after his Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season. They didn’t even make the second cut, when Larkin reportedly added Dallas, Washington, Colorado and Tampa to Minnesota, Florida and Las Vegas as destinations of choice.

But Canadiens fans gave the 30-year-old a reason to reconsider as their team was beating Larkin’s 1-0 in a shootout to get to 2-2-1 on their season while plunging the Red Wings to 1-3-1.

“It was interesting,” Larkin said after Zachary Bolduc scored the only goal in the shootout and Jacob Fowler made 36 saves on the night for the Canadiens. “I never would’ve imagined that in this building in my career, but they’re passionate fans. In my opinion, it’s the best atmosphere in hockey and they’re knowledgeable and they love their team, and that’s how I read into it. And after a few seconds, it was just back to focusing on the game.”

For days, weeks, months, or however long it takes for Larkin’s trade request to be fulfilled, just focusing on the game will prove more challenging for both him and the Red Wings. 

They did well avoiding the distraction of Saturday’s sideshow, impressively managing to keep their focus—and in the second half of a back-to-back, no less—as head coach Todd McLellan noted.

“Our internal group—the guys that wear the uniforms, coaches, trainers—have done a real good job of shielding each other as much as they can, focusing on getting prepared to play,” said McLellan. 

But that was before he conceded Larkin’s situation is undeniably a distraction.

Then McLellan said, “I’m sick and tired of talking about it, I’m not talking about it anymore, so I apologize.”

He knows it won’t be the last time he’s asked about it, though.

And the subject isn’t likely to die down in Montreal, either. At least not prior to their next game Tuesday. 

Because Canadiens fans feel their team is a piece away from becoming perennial contenders for the Stanley Cup, and you can’t blame them for feeling Larkin is that piece.

They’ve been pining for a second-line centre to play behind Nick Suzuki for years, so getting one who’s been a first-liner since stepping into the league one year after being drafted 15th overall in 2014 is worth chanting for.

Larkin has produced 277 goals and 645 points in 811 NHL games. He has produced at least 30 goals and 67 points in each of his last five seasons—and for only $8.7 million a year over the last three. 

It’s a salary that would slot perfectly into the Canadiens’ cap chart, even offering them flexibility to keep adding over the remainder of Larkin’s contract, which will only expire in 2031. Especially as the cap is on the verge of rising substantially year over year.

You’d think those circumstances would appeal to a player who hasn’t played a playoff game since appearing in five during his rookie season. You’d think having those fans at the Bell Centre chanting for him on a nightly basis would never get tiresome, that they’d turn being booed at Little Caesars Arena to start the season into a distant memory.

If Larkin ever came around to that, he’d very likely be a Canadien. 

If Minnesota, Florida, Vegas, Tampa, Dallas, Washington or Colorado were willing to give up what it would take to get him, Larkin would already be in one of those markets. Like the Canadiens, they’re all trying to contend and unlikely to deal a premium piece off their roster to add him.

And if a deal centres on futures, we’re not sure any of them could compete with an offer that includes Canadiens prospect Michael Hage, who was in the midst of capping a four-point performance at the University of Michigan while Canadiens fans were beckoning Larkin Saturday.

Hage now has 12 points through the first four games of what’s all but guaranteed to be his last season in the NCAA, and it’s anything but guaranteed that Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes would part with him.

But there are few players who would fit as well into the Canadiens’ plans as Larkin would, and their fans clearly recognize that.

They want him, and now he knows how bad they do.