Larkin opened his list, and it's still full of capped-out teams

Dylan Larkin finally opened the door. The trouble is that every team he added is standing in the same hallway with no cap room.

Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast this week that Larkin's list is bigger than we knew. "I think some of the other teams that are there are Colorado, Washington, and I suspect, in case people didn't know them already, Dallas and Tampa," he said. "I think it's somewhere around eight." Grade: Reported.

Two days ago the list we knew was Florida, Minnesota and Vegas, with Dallas floating around. I wrote in the Notebook that if he opened it to a couple of teams with cap room, Detroit would have a real market by the weekend. He opened it. He just didn't pick teams with room.

1. The list got longer. It didn't get roomier. PuckPedia has Washington with about $75,000 in space as of Saturday, and Colorado with about $404,000. Dallas sits near $390,000, Tampa near $1.9 million and Minnesota under $1 million. Florida is roughly $896,000 over, and Vegas is nearly $8.8 million over.

Larkin carries $8.7 million a year through 2030-31. Nobody on that list can absorb it without sending about $8.7 million back.

The read: That isn't a trade market yet. It's a salary swap with a star attached, and salary swaps take weeks.

2. Detroit is the only team in this with room, and that's the lever. The Red Wings have about $19.5 million in space. That's the number that makes a deal possible. Detroit can keep some of Larkin's money, or take back a bigger contract than it sends out.

Marcus can walk you through the retention math. The hockey point is simpler.

The read: Interim GM Shawn Horcoff's real decision isn't who buys. It's how much of Larkin's money he's willing to eat to get a better return. The more he eats, the faster this ends.

3. The two new names are the interesting ones. The Hockey News noted the original three carry limited trade capital compared to Washington or Colorado. That matters more than the cap line. A team with prospects and picks can build a three-way deal around the money. A team without them can't.

The read: Washington and Colorado aren't on the list by accident. A player who adds teams that can actually pay the freight wants to get moved, and his camp knows how this works.

4. Florida is still on it, and still not in it. The Panthers are over the cap, and the picks that could have fronted a Larkin package already went to Ottawa for Brady Tkachuk. Nobody has reported Florida making a call.

The read: On the list, not in the market. File it under Noise until someone with a name says otherwise.

5. Where this lands. File under: Trade winds. Dallas and Tampa are the best hockey fits and two of the worst cap fits. Colorado and Washington have the assets. Detroit has the room to make any of them work.

The read: Larkin gets moved before American Thanksgiving, Detroit keeps part of the contract, and it isn't Florida. That's my call, and you can hold me to it in the Room.

Housekeeping. None of the teams Friedman named is Canadian. Seven Canadian markets, zero invitations. The Leafs are the Leafs, and nobody on this list has to find out what that's like.