Jacob Fowler<\/a> made 36 saves on the night for the Canadiens. \u201cI never would\u2019ve imagined that in this building in my career, but they\u2019re passionate fans. In my opinion, it\u2019s the best atmosphere in hockey and they\u2019re knowledgeable and they love their team, and that\u2019s how I read into it. And after a few seconds, it was just back to focusing on the game.\u201d<\/p>\nFor days, weeks, months, or however long it takes for Larkin\u2019s trade request to be fulfilled, just focusing on the game will prove more challenging for both him and the Red Wings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They did well avoiding the distraction of Saturday\u2019s sideshow, impressively managing to keep their focus\u2014and in the second half of a back-to-back, no less\u2014as head coach Todd McLellan noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur internal group\u2014the guys that wear the uniforms, coaches, trainers\u2014have done a real good job of shielding each other as much as they can, focusing on getting prepared to play,\u201d said McLellan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But that was before he conceded Larkin\u2019s situation is undeniably a distraction.<\/p>\n
Then McLellan said, \u201cI\u2019m sick and tired of talking about it, I\u2019m not talking about it anymore, so I apologize.”<\/p>\n
He knows it won\u2019t be the last time he\u2019s asked about it, though.<\/p>\n
And the subject isn\u2019t likely to die down in Montreal, either. At least not prior to their next game Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because Canadiens fans feel their team is a piece away from becoming perennial contenders for the Stanley Cup, and you can\u2019t blame them for feeling Larkin is that piece.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve been pining for a second-line centre to play behind Nick Suzuki for years, so getting one who\u2019s been a first-liner since stepping into the league one year after being drafted 15th overall in 2014 is worth chanting for.<\/p>\n
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\u2014and for only $8.7 million a year over the last three.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a salary that would slot perfectly into the Canadiens\u2019 cap chart, even offering them flexibility to keep adding over the remainder of Larkin\u2019s contract, which will only expire in 2031. Especially as the cap is on the verge of rising substantially year over year.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d think those circumstances would appeal to a player who hasn\u2019t played a playoff game since appearing in five during his rookie season. You\u2019d think having those fans at the Bell Centre chanting for him on a nightly basis would never get tiresome, that they\u2019d turn being booed at Little Caesars Arena to start the season into a distant memory.<\/p>\n
If Larkin ever came around to that, he\u2019d very likely be a Canadien.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019re all trying to contend and unlikely to deal a premium piece off their roster to add him.<\/p>\n
And if a deal centres on futures, we\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n
Hage now has 12 points through the first four games of what\u2019s all but guaranteed to be his last season in the NCAA, and it\u2019s anything but guaranteed that Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes would part with him.<\/p>\n
But there are few players who would fit as well into the Canadiens\u2019 plans as Larkin would, and their fans clearly recognize that.<\/p>\n
They want him, and now he knows how bad they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTREAL \u2014 The chants started before Saturday\u2019s game even got underway, and they only grew louder as it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-928828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}