The New Jersey Devils wasted little time making a statement after landing three-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets in a Friday blockbuster.
Hours later, a trade pitch proposed by Jonathan Lankin of Heavy.com suggests the club might not be finished.
The hypothetical deal would send Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin to Newark, pairing the disgruntled American with Hellebuyck and immediately elevating New Jersey’s championship window.
Under the proposal, the Devils would acquire Larkin along with a 2029 sixth-round pick.
In return, Detroit would receive defenseman Dougie Hamilton (with New Jersey retaining $3 million of his $9 million salary), forward Luke Evangelista, and a 2027 second-round selection.
The exchange produces only a modest cap shift, leaving the Devils with roughly $7.2 million in space and the Red Wings with about $16.9 million, according to the site’s calculations.
Larkin, 30, has spent his entire career in Detroit after the Red Wings selected him 15th overall in 2014. T
he Waterford, Michigan, native has recorded 277 goals and 648 points across 816 games and remains under contract through the 2030-31 season at an $8.7 million average annual value.
He requested a trade after last season, and Detroit opened the current campaign without naming a captain. His list of acceptable destinations has grown to ten teams and includes New Jersey.
Early this season, he has helped the Red Wings build a six-game point streak.
Hamilton, 33, is a 6-foot-6 right-shot defenseman with 164 goals and 545 points in 922 NHL games across stops in Boston, Calgary, Carolina, and New Jersey.
His contract runs through 2027-28 and includes no-movement protection, meaning he would need to approve any move. Evangelista, 24, has posted 148 points in 260 games and is signed through a lucrative extension that begins in 2027-28.
The timing makes sense on paper. New Jersey just surrendered Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws, prospect Alexander Command, and two draft picks to secure Hellebuyck, whose $8.5 million cap hit mirrors Larkin’s.
Adding the Red Wings center would give the Devils a top-line trio of Larkin, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier in front of an elite goaltender. Detroit, meanwhile, has publicly ruled out a full rebuild and has been seeking young centers in trade discussions; this package supplies a proven defenseman and a young scoring winger rather than pure futures.
Whether either side would accept remains uncertain.
The Devils would be betting that another major addition so soon after the Hellebuyck deal does not overextend them, while the Red Wings would still need to address the absence of a true top-line center.
For now, the pitch simply underscores how quickly the Devils’ aggressive posture has reshaped the league’s trade conversation.
