Miller's Musings: The Larkin Trade

 During the Millers morning skate on January 6, things seemed relatively normal. The Matt Roy

trade had been consummated the night before, but as Roy had been on the trade block for the

past week it was no real shock to the squad. Recent signing Thomas Novak was skating with

the other other reserves, with no expectation of appearing in a game just yet. Coach

Brind’Amour had posted the lineup for the night’s game against Parry Sound and the forward

lines were similar to what Georgetown had been putting out there recently.

As the players arrived at the rink in Woburn, Massachusetts to prepare for the game, nothing

had changed. The players dressed and went out for warmups. As is Millers tradition, the 13th

forward, the 7th Defenseman and the 3rd Goalie also skated, just in case a late injury or sudden

personal matter may lead to a lineup change. Novak, fellow newcomer Henri Jokiharju and

Phillipp Grubauer went through their normal routines.

The team went back in the locker room for final prep, and upon exiting their was a notable

change, as Novak was now on the bench. Long-time captain Dylan Larkin was nowhere to be

seen. Then the news came down. The unthinkable had happened. Larkin, the longest-serving

player in the history of the franchise, had been traded to Capeside for fellow C Logan Cooley.

The club issued this press release from the General Manager:

“It was a difficult decision to trade Dylan, but as a team we have underperformed all year and

were in danger of missing the playoffs”, said GM Kash. “We felt it best to find Dylan a club that

was a real threat for the Kehler Cup and one that would value him the way we have. And to be

honest, from a club perspective, any deal involving Dylan had to include an excellent return.

Capeside had been softly inquiring for a while and we were firm that we would not move him,

but when they offered Cooley we had to set aside emotional attachments and think about what

was best for this club. Logan Cooley is a 21 year-old who’s already established himself as a #1

Center. Having him lead our forwards for the next decade was too good an opportunity to pass

up. When we we took the offer to Dylan to consider he agreed it was best for his present and

the club’s future to make this move. We wish him nothing but the best, and Dylan Larkin will

always have a future spot in this organization, be it as a returning player, coach or in the front

office, whatever he prefers to do.”