Canadiens' trade pursuit of Larkin stalled by player's no-Canada list

The Montreal Canadiens' pursuit of a major trade addition this season is facing a significant obstacle, as Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin will not accept a move to any of Canada's seven NHL franchises.

"Larkin could end this saga tomorrow if he added the Canadiens to his list," one NHL front-office executive said of the trade stalemate.

"Who cares if they’re in the same division? They are the one team with a chance to contend that can also give Detroit what it wants for Larkin."

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Larkin has cautiously expanded his list of acceptable trade destinations in recent months, but it does not include Montreal.

The Canadiens previously attempted to acquire forward Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Sources say the Canadiens offered a package for Marchenko believed to include two forwards and one defenseman from their current NHL roster, a first-round pick, as well as another conditional pick that could convert into a first-rounder.

Montreal was not willing to part with Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov or Cole Caufield in that deal, which led to Matthew Knies being traded to Columbus instead.

The team successfully convinced free agent Chris Kreider to sign, aided by his relationships with coach Marty St. Louis and executive Jeff Gorton.

Adding Larkin would mean one quarter of the Canadiens' roster would be American-born, joining Kreider, Caufield, Lane Hutson and Jayden Struble.

Elsewhere in the league, a shortened preseason has left several veteran free agents unsigned, including Vladimir Tarasenko, David Perron, James van Riemsdyk, Jonathan Drouin and Reilly Smith.

"I don’t know about other teams, but my roster was mostly set in August, and there wasn’t any extra room to come into camp and earn a spot," one Western Conference general manager said.

"We didn’t have the luxury of time this year."

The GM added that teams did not want an older player to block the development path of a younger one.

"We spend so much time developing them, we need them in our lineup. The last thing we want is for them to not see an opening."

Van Riemsdyk had contact with two teams in September, and Perron continues to receive expressions of interest.

The Calgary Flames placed forward Connor Zary on waivers Monday after he struggled to find a consistent role.

The Flames had tried to trade Zary over the summer, originally seeking a second-round pick, but no deal materialized.

He is expected to be sent to the AHL's Calgary Wranglers upon clearing waivers.

After an 0-2-2 start, the Philadelphia Flyers are perusing the trade market for defencemen with size to better support goaltenders Dan Vladar and Joseph Woll.

The team does not currently have plans to extend defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen, who is in the final year of his contract and missed Monday's game.

He is expected to be a leading trade deadline commodity.

Teams are also monitoring the deployment of Flyers defenceman David Jiricek, a 22-year-old acquired last spring, who did not play in the first two games of the season.