Yzerman played a risky hand by not signing Larkin or Bert before this season, but Yzerman is going to win this. Instead of signing both of them after big seasons last year, you've got a Larkin who is doing well but looking dogged. Then you've got Bert, who will miss the majority of the season this year, and will have further questions about his longevity and injury-proneness.

The result? Contract discounts for the Wings.

It might mean Larkin's contract is only more palatable around $8 mil/year instead of the ~$10mil number that had been floated, but that's a big difference.

The only thing dogged I have seen about Larkin is his determination as evidenced by last nights first goal.  I believe youre correct that they will get a deal done eventually. Bertuzzi, Im not as sure about or as you said, looks like heading for a lesser amount due to questions about his unfortunate injuries and long Jevity.

LoL voice to text.

Trade Larkin, then resign him as a free agent as long as the bidding war gets out of hand. A trade could possibly set the wings up for a few years. 8 million is what I was thinking also. I would have traded Bert a few years ago, he was worth more then!

Youve got GM Steve Yzerman on the other side of it, and hes handled some big contracts going back to his days running Tampa Bay, where he set up a nice cap culture en route to building a team that contends every year.

And that's the key point in these negotiations. I think everyone here wants Larkin back, but Stevie Y isn't going to destroy the salary structure of the whole team in order to do it.

In the end, I think Larkin will have to take a "hometown discount" in the $8M range if he wants to remain a Red Wing. If that doesn't seem likely, I don't think Yzerman would hesitate for a second to trade him before the deadline. Same goes for Bert.

Stevie kinda played hardball with Stamkos, and then ended up signing him to a pretty good deal. Larks will take a hometown discount. I don't think Bert will, even with the number of games he's missed in the last 3 years. Too many top-6 wingers on this team to keep Bert who can't stay in the lineup.

Key to point out that Stevie no longer has the tax advantage he had down in Tampa.

Unless there is something we don't see in the locker room or otherwise, Larkin's deal will get done, I don't see him leaving.  

On the other hand, Yzerman is going to have no choice but to try to trade Bertuzzi, but he's not going to get what he could have this summer or last year, and that's Yzerman's fault.  He risked that coming into the season, Bert can't stay on the ice to prove he's productive, and there's going to be a lot of talented rentals to drive the acquisition price way down, Kane O'Reily Horvat Tarasenko, etc. Bert would be like the 4th or 5th best trade option.