Adding a wrap up for those who read this down the road and may be interested. We ended up getting an American Lab from a lady up in Michigan. Her breeding operation goes by Rivers Wild Retrievers. So far so good; would not hesitate to recommend her.
The other one I found was Pine Lake Labs in Wisconsin. I spoke to the gentleman up there, and he was awesome. They have Candlewood bloodlines, and they work closely with Mary the retired Candlewood breeder. He talked to me on the phone for a bit, and he offered to answer any questions I had throughout the process even when I told him we wouldn't be buying from him due to timelines - their litters were a ways off, and we were ready to move pretty quickly. All things equal I likely would have gone through them.
Special thank you to
@KurtR for vetting the pedigree of our pup and for taking the time to talk with me and answer some questions. Really appreciate your time Kurt!