- Dylan Larkin, captain of the Detroit Red Wings, publicly criticized general manager Steve Yzerman’s inactivity at the trade deadline.
- Yzerman addressed Larkin’s comments directly but refused to elaborate publicly.
- Despite the tension, a trade involving Larkin is unlikely due to his no-trade clause and his value to the team.
Want an example of how quickly time passes?
How about this: It has already been a decade since Dylan Larkin debuted for the Detroit Red Wings.
When they chose the Waterford native at No. 15 in 2014, then-general manager Ken Holland hyped Larkin as a fleet-footed, two-way forward. Larkin spent a year playing for Michigan then made the Wings the following season (2015-16) and had a standout rookie season scoring 23 goals while playing wing on a line with Henrik Zetterberg.
Of late though, Larkin — having just finished his fifth season as Wings captain — has been making headlines for criticizing general manager Steve Yzerman, the man who named Larkin captain in January 2021.And that brings us to this Wings mailbag, in which reader Thomas W. asked: “Do you think Stevie will trade Larkin because of the comments he made? Seems Yzerman’s pretty upset about it.”
To recap: Larkin made a point both on March 7, the evening after the trade deadline, and again on April 19, two days after the Wings’ season ended, that he was disappointed in Yzerman’s lack of activity at the deadline. This is what Larkin said at the later date: “We didn’t do anything and I felt the group — we didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline and guys were kind of down about it. It would be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well.”
Yzerman referenced those comments when he spoke April 29, sounding a note of defiance as he vowed to continue his rebuilding policy of drafting and developing: “I’ve addressed Dylan’s comments directly with Dylan, and I will not elaborate on that.”
Yzerman may well have asked Larkin which one of his young teammates he was willing to sacrifice to “add a spark,” because spark-plug players don’t come cheap.
The good thing for both sides is that the noise over the matter will die down over the long offseason. And to directly answer the question, don’t expect a trade involving Larkin.
Larkin, who turns 29 in July, signed an eight-year, $69.6 million contract — that’s an $8.7 million annual cap hit — in March 2023. It carries a full no-trade clause through the 2027-28 season. Larkin certainly has the right to waive that clause, but it seems unlikely.
True, he’s probably the most frustrated player on the team over the franchise having missed the playoffs for a ninth straight year — because he’s the only one active Red Wing who has been through each of the nine early offseasons. The sum total of Larkin’s NHL playoff résumé takes up but a line: Five games in 2016, his rookie year.
