HisNoodliness
The Karate Kid and ASP Kai
And I'm making the point that we weren't wrong about Mantha. We said that we wouldn't sell low on him. We didn't. We sold high in a big way. Larkin has even more value to the team, and so not only will we not sell low, you're going to have to really overpay.Just a point on what was said about Mantha and how it's being said about Larkin. I feel Yzerman looks at any trade offer that helps or reinforces his youth core build-up. Larkin is not old but is probably 30+ when Yzerman's youth core reaches prime years.
It's true that Larkin will not be a core contributor to this team by the time we're a contender. Can he be our defensively responsible 2C and captain well into his 30s though? Can he establish a team culture of leaving it all on the ice? Absolutely. Buffalo would have been so much better off with Ryan O'Reilly around to let Eichel and Reinhart develop in a functional team environment with a good culture. That's how Yzerman builds. Stamkos essentially didn't play on the way to one cup and was a complementary piece in the other. He was also hugely important to the team for 1. Establishing the culture of taking less salary to keep the team together and working hard and 2. Being the leader of the team and most important voice in the locker room. That's the path that we're setting Larkin on. As you say though we're still building the rest of the Point, Kucherov, Hedman, Vasi core around him.