Detroit — They can’t win with him. But can they win without him? And if so, when?
Because it appears the Red Wings are going to have to find out, now that Dylan Larkin, the team’s captain and longest-tenured player, has decided it is time.
Time to move on from the team that drafted him. Time to move on not just from Hockeytown, but also the only hockey home he has ever known. Time to leave behind all the frustration and friction that a decade-long playoff drought in Detroit has wrought.
And as awkward as this all feels, with Larkin reportedly requesting a trade after another late-season collapse extended the Wings’ postseason purgatory, it probably is time.
But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Or that this will be a clean break, if — or when — a trade finally comes. In fact, given the way the news leaked Thursday after weeks of relative silence, sending shockwaves across the league only hours before the puck dropped for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, this probably is going to take some time to reach a resolution.
The NHL draft is still a few weeks away, with the start of free agency to follow on July 1. Ideally, any blockbuster deal involving Larkin would be consummated by then. But how and where and with whom? That’s still an open-ended set of questions, with no obvious answers, which makes this anything but an ideal situation for Steve Yzerman, the Wings’ embattled general manager.
Larkin, who turns 30 next month, has a no-trade clause in his contract that extends through the 2027-28 season, so he and his agents at CAA — namely Pat Brisson — have plenty of leverage in this power play.
But the Wings also have Larkin under contract for five more seasons at an $8.7 million cap hit. So if Yzerman wants to hold out for a better return, he can certainly try. And if we’ve learned anything about Yzerman in his front-office tenure in Detroit, it’s that he’s willing to wait.
Yet that’s also the underlying problem here. The interminable wait has become a weight Larkin no longer wanted to bear, or so it seems.
Signs were there
We’ve seen it on his face for the last few years, as playoff hopes flickered and then flamed out. We’ve heard it in his voice, too, as teammates came and went, whether it was his misty-eyed response back in 2023, when the Wings traded Tyler Bertuzzi to Boston a day after Larkin signed his $70 million extension, or two seasons ago when he publicly lamented Yzerman’s decision to stand pat at the deadline.
His boss clapped back at that perceived victimhood, but Yzerman probably felt a similar frustration as he watched the Wings’ waste another opportunity this winter, especially after he’d dealt a first-round pick to St. Louis at the deadline to acquire defenseman Justin Faulk.
Larkin’s exit interview with the media in April felt almost funereal, though, as he talked about the toll the past 10 years had taken. He said he “understood” those early years in the rebuild when the playoffs weren’t a realistic goal. But the last few?
“I guess I’m just thinking now, going back to when I re-signed,” he said back in mid-April. “I signed an eight-year deal and I knew that we had work to do. I knew that we weren’t going to win the Stanley Cup the next day. But I wanted to be here, and I want to be here, to help this team in any way I can to win the Stanley Cup.”
That he started with the past tense there was perhaps a clue as to what was rattling around in the back of his mind. And if so, it’d be understandable, considering the conflicting emotions he’d experienced in the final two months prior. Larkin went from the euphoria of winning an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Italy to the pain and suffering of another playoff miss in Detroit, hobbled at the end by an injury he suffered on the night of the trade deadline, ironically.
“Never a fun time when you miss the playoffs,” sighed Larkin, who has now played in more Olympic games (six) than NHL playoff games (five) in his 11-year pro career. “But especially in this fashion and being here again.”
Deal dilemma
Again, though, that’s a problem that’ll only be more difficult to solve with Larkin on the trading block. A team that already was in need of a second-line center now will need to find a No. 1 pivot, too, in a market where there aren’t many — or any — to be found. And while Larkin always seemed miscast in that No. 1 role in Detroit, it won’t be easy to replace his production — five straight 30-goal seasons, including a career-high 34 this season — or his two-way game.
Harder still if his list of preferred destinations is limited to only a few, friend-filled rosters. Remember what Yzerman gave up to acquire Alex DeBrincat from Ottawa a few years ago? No? That’s my point.
Minnesota, with Team USA GM Bill Guerin in charge, would love to add a player like Larkin, but what could the Wild offer in return? They already gave up a haul in the deal to acquire Quinn Hughes last winter — a move Yzerman wasn’t willing to make without an extension in place for the dynamic defenseman.
Is there a deal to be made with New Jersey involving Nico Hischier, the Devils’ 27-year-old captain and center who’s due for a hefty contract extension? Or in Dallas, where the Stars have a 40-goal scorer in Jason Robertson they might not be able to pay? What about Columbus, to join forces with some fellow former Wolverines? How about Anaheim or Los Angeles or San Jose?
We could go on and on, obviously. But Yzerman really can’t without first addressing the core issue here for the Wings. I’ve long maintained the next true Cup contender here in Detroit was always going to be built around Yzerman’s own draft picks, starting with Moritz Seider (25), Lucas Raymond (24) and Simon Edvinsson (23). And now that Larkin’s clearing that up by asking out, maybe Yzerman’s ask in return should reflect it: More prospects, less panic.
Maybe it means dealing DeBrincat, too, rather than signing the 40-goal scorer to a huge contract extension just as he’s about to turn 29. But that would require even more patience from ownership, not to mention a fanbase that was ready to scrap the Yzerplan well before this.
When Yzerman acknowledged back in April that it was time to have some “very blunt conversations” with his players, I’m not sure this is what he had in mind. And when he acknowledged, “We need to change some things,” I doubt he expected to start right at the top. But here they are.
So what’s the plan now?
john.niyo@detroitnews.com
@JohnNiyo
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Niyo: If Dylan Larkin wants out, Steve Yzerman, Red Wings are in a bind
Reporting by John Niyo, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By John Niyo, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
