NHL Trade Rumors: Flyers 'Willing' to Help Facilitate Dylan Larkin Trade

It has been long stated that disgruntled Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin has no interest in choosing to play for the Philadelphia Flyers, but that may not stop the team from getting in on the action in the end.

Larkin, 30, has a full no-trade clause, allowing him to dictate which teams he would approve a trade to. The Flyers, by various accounts, are not one of those teams.

However, the Minnesota Wild are, and they are a team that has reportedly been in the hottest pursuit of the former Red Wings captain. Desperately attempting to retain Team USA teammate Quinn Hughes, the Wild are hoping to win now and give their roster a major boost down the middle with Larkin.

But, it's worth noting that Larkin has an $8.7 million cap hit, and the Wild have just $1.674 million in cap space while already exceeding the cap ceiling with goalie Filip Gustavsson on LTIR.

The Flyers, with the fifth-most cap space in the NHL, $12.88 million, are reportedly willing to help, but that service will cost the Wild a fee.

NHL insider Anthony Di Marco shared in his latest report for Daily Faceoff, "Speaking with team sources, DFO was told that the Flyers would be willing to act as a third-party broker to help facilitate a trade between the Wild and Red Wings."

Di Marco specifically named winger Yakov Trenin, a Russian power forward with wing and center flexibility, as a potential cap casualty for Minnesota.

Trenin, 29, has two seasons remaining on his contract at a $3.5 million cap hit, with a 10-team no-trade list.

The former second-round pick enjoyed his second-most prolific season in the NHL last year, scoring 23 points for the Wild while playing in all 82 regular season games for the first time. This season, though, Trenin has just two points, both assists, in 15 games.

According to Flyers sources, they would be willing to absorb Trenin’s contract for the right price. [Center prospect Charlie Stramel] is a player that the Flyers have a level of interest in and would potentially be the cost of doing business for them to take on the remaining term on Trenin’s contract," Di Marco added.

"The Red Wings have the cap space to eat Trenin’s salary if they wanted to, as a Central Division executive pointed out to DFO, but the Flyers are willing to play a part in a deal if there’s a necessity for it."

How Charlie Stramel fits the Flyers

For Flyers fans unfamiliar with Charlie Stramel, the Wild center prospect was drafted 21st overall in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft, though EliteProspects had ranked him 47th.

The challenge for the 21-year-old has been consistency, dating back to his pre-draft days.

"There was just so much promise coming into the year, and why not? Stramel had just capped off a distinguished, productive draft minus-one season spent bouncing between the USNTDP U18 and U17 squads with nearly a point a game at the U18s. If we’re drafting a year ago, he’s probably a top-15 pick," EliteProspects said of Stramel in their 2023 draft guide.

"Then he went to Wisconsin as a true freshman, and it was pretty much all downhill from there, with the exception of a solid showing in his country’s colours at the World Juniors. Thrust into a top-six matchup role in the nation’s top conference with little support and on a team that played with almost no structure, his results reflected as much."

In two years at Wisconsin between 2022-23 and 2023-24, Stramel scored just eight goals, 12 assists, and 20 points in 67 games, compiling a -14 rating over that span.

Then, the first-round talent packed his bags and turned things around at Michigan State, scoring nine goals and 27 points in 37 games in 2024-25, and 19 goals and 44 points in 37 games last season.

Notably, Stramel was teammates at MSU with Flyers prospects Porter Martone and Shane Vansaghi, which would assuredly be a factor in acquiring him in a potential three-way Dylan Larkin trade.

Stramel fits what the Flyers have long been looking for in their lineup: a big-bodied, right-shot center.

Jacob Gaucher hasn't really been able to fill that role, and that's led to the Flyers giving more opportunities to aging vets like Noel Acciari and Luke Glendening over the last year.

Stramel has developed a ton since his draft year, evidenced by his scoring evolution at Michigan State, and now he's playing in the pro ranks, having produced a goal and two assists in 10 AHL games for the Iowa Wild this season.

In the long-term, Stramel is a worthy bet for the Flyers to take, especially for something as painless as taking on a bad contract to facilitate a trade; they're not giving up assets to do this.

And in the interim, we all know that the Flyers have been bleeding players at the AHL ranks. 

Gaucher has been up and down between the AHL and NHL like a yo-yo, and the Flyers have turned to players like Cole Knuble, Oliver Bonk, Jack Studnicka, and even Garrett Wilson at times to deal with a rash of injuries.

By adding a longer-term project like Stramel, the Flyers would give Jett Luchanko some support on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, given that he's the only top forward to have not been called up, and given that Danila Klimovich has played just two games this year.

The Phantoms need help and the Flyers need help, and potentially adding Stramel would support both clubs at different points in the timeline.