The Grind Line Podcast is reporting this afternoon that teams are "really trying to get in" on Dylan Larkin, and the Bruins are one of three names it mentioned.
Buffalo and St. Louis are the others, according to the podcast, which was summarizing what a league source told it. Nothing is confirmed here. This is interest, not a negotiation.
The Grind Line Podcast also said the Red Wings center has not added to his list of destinations, and that it is surprised by how the week has gone on that front.
That matters because Boston's interest has been building for days. We told you earlier this week about Hagens and Minten being off limits, and that is the catch attached to any Bruins pursuit.
MurphysLaw74 reiterated it today, writing that James Hagens is still a non-starter for the Bruins in any talks with Detroit for Larkin. He added that Fraser Minten is too, crediting Ty Anderson with reporting that first.
Think about what that means. Hagens has 12 points in 16 games as a 20-year-old and was the seventh overall pick in 2025. Minten has 10 points and a +9 rating through the same 16 games. Those are the two centers Detroit would most likely ask about, and Boston has reportedly closed the door on both.
Why the Bruins can afford to wait on Larkin
Because they are not desperate. Boston is 11-4-1, first in the Atlantic Division and fourth in the NHL, with a +20 goal differential. Marco Sturm has a team that is winning at home (7-1-0) and has won 7 of its last 10.
That is the reason this reads as opportunism and not need. Larkin has 6 points in 10 games this season, with a 649-point career over 818 games. He is a legitimate top-line center, and the Bruins would be adding to a strength.
Still, the price is the problem. If Hagens and Minten are untouchable, Don Sweeney has to find another way to meet Detroit's demands, and nothing in the report says what that would look like. We are not going to guess at it.
And Buffalo, at 7-5-3 and 7th in the Atlantic, plays very differently from a Boston team that has no urgent hole to fill. That could shape how hard each club is willing to push.
For now, Boston has a game to play. The Bruins visit Pittsburgh tonight, a Penguins team on a three-game losing streak, and the Larkin chatter will follow them until Detroit says something real.
