Dylan Larkin is the biggest non-Stanley Cup Final storyline in the NHL right now.

The disgruntled Detroit Red Wing reportedly requested a trade last week, fed up after the organization now holds the league’s longest active playoff drought. Larkin has right to feel frustrated over Detroit’s lack of success, but he’s also put the Red wings and general manager Steve Yzerman in a tough spot.

Days ago, new reporting detailed Larkin’s list of teams he would accept a trade to. It was three teams long, included a division rival (Florida) and a team currently in the Stanley Cup Final (Vegas). There’s not a lot the Red Wings can do with that, and it could set the stage for an ugly stalemate that drags throughout the summer.

The debate over Larkin’s tactics has put the idea of contract clauses in the spotlight. And while there’s plenty of argument to be had over no-move clauses, if players should still retain them after requesting a trade, and if general managers should be more stingy with them, I wanted to look at them through black and yellow lenses.

Luckily for the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team who could be very active this summer, contract clauses don’t pose a major roadblock to some things they can do.

Per PuckPedia, the Penguins have seven players under contract with some sort of no-move or no-trade clause in their deal.

Up front, the Penguins only have three players whose contract clauses could make moving them a challenge. As one would expect, both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both have full no-move clauses in their deals, allowing them to stay in Pittsburgh for as long as they like (to some in the media’s dismay) while also securing they have a say in where they go, should they move.

The only other forward with some sort of trade protection is winger Rickard Rakell. The six-year, $30 million contract he signed with former general manager Ron Hextall included an eight-team no trade list in each of those six years.

The list of forwards with some level of trade protection notably omits players like Bryan Rust and Tommy Novak, two Penguins whose names will likely circulate the rumor mill as businesses starts to pick back up around the draft.

Rust, who has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh, did at one point have a full no-move clause in his deal. Rust signed a deal very similar to Rakell’s: five years and at $5.125 million a season.

The first three years of that contract included a full no-move, but that clause expired in his deal at the start of the 2025-26 league year. As of now, the 34-year-old forward could be traded anywhere in the NHL.

The same can be said for Novak, who is entering the third and final year of a deal he originally signed in Nashville. Accounting for $3.5 million against the cap and coming off a bounce back season production wise, Novak could fetch something in the trade market this summer.

And having that kind of flexibility up front is important. An already weak free agent class come July 1st is thinning by the day. Combine that with an enormous spike in the salary cap to $104 million, and we will see some truly insane contracts handed out.

Teams who are unwilling, or unable, to pay so much in free agency will be forced to turn to a team like the Penguins, should they seek new assets. Having freedom from the Pittsburgh side will make Dubas’ job a lot easier, should he need it.

On the back end, there’s less the Penguins can do without having to work some things around or convince some folks involved.

Both Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang have full no-move clauses in their deals. Karlsson is entering the final year of his deal, originally signed in San Jose back in 2019.

Karlsson’s contract paid him $11.5 million a year, but the Sharks retained $1.5 million to help facilitate the trade to Pittsburgh. The deal also gave Karlsson a full no-move for all eight years, meaning he willingly waived that clause to come to Pittsburgh as part of that three-team trade.

Karlsson played a major part in the revival of the Penguins last season, but if Dubas sought to still move the veteran defenseman, he would have to get his approval.

The same goes for Kris Letang, who has two years left on a six-year extension the Penguins inked him to back in 2022. Letang struggled for large stretches of this season, prompting some fans to speculate about a potential buyout of the 39-year-old’s deal.

His contract, however, is virtually buyout-proof; buying him out doesn’t create any cap relief, nor is the team in a position where they are desperate for extra room. Letang would also have to give permission for any trade, which effectively ensures he will end his career in Pittsburgh.

Lower down the list, left-shot Sam Girard has a nine-team no trade list in his deal, which the Penguins acquired along with a second-round pick in 2028 in exchange for defender Brett Kulak back at the trade deadline. The 28-year-old Girard is on the last year of a seven-year contract signed in Colorado, paying him $5 million annually.

As the cap increases, that figure is more and more manageable. Though he didn’t fully mesh in Pittsburgh during his limited time to end the year, Girard is still an effective NHL defenseman who Pittsburgh could explore moving this summer. Sure, his modified no-trade clause restricts what the Penguins can do a little, but Dubas still has about 70% of the NHL to talk to if he wants.

One contract that probably isn’t going anywhere, however, is Ryan Graves. A free agent signing by Dubas during his first summer in Pittsburgh, the defenseman still has three years left on a contract costing $4.5 million a year.

Given the struggles of Graves and the lack of a full-time NHL spot last season, that contract is hard enough to move. Now toss in the eight-team no trade list Graves received, and that goal becomes even harder. His deal also provides very little benefits if bought out, meaning he’s probably still on the books for the foreseeable future.

Aside from a few roadblocks, though, Dubas and the Penguins have a lot of freedom to wheel and deal as they see fit. Most of the clauses are on players they either wouldn’t (or couldn’t) move anyways, and the few who do still have some sort of clause still leave room to maneuver.