Dylan Larkin’s apparent decision to end his relationship with the Detroit Red Wings − the team that in 2014 drafted him in the first round − baffles on numerous fronts. The seismic news was reported on Thursday, June 4 by Sportsnet. Requests to multiple people − Larkin, his agent Pat Brisson and Wings general manager Steve Yzerman − to discuss the matter were not immediately returned. Larkin’s decision upended his standing with his hometown team (he’s from Waterford) and let it be known the team
has to accept the best possible deal for him. So why now? I asked Larkin, who turns 30 this summer, about his long and frustrating tenure with the Wings in April, shortly after they missed the playoffs for a 10th straight season. This was his reply: “I mean, yes, I have been here 10 years, and I think for a lot of those years you go into the season and you want to make the playoffs, but realistically, was that going to happen? I’m trying
to say there are some years where it wasn’t really what we were trying to do. I understood what was going on with rebuilding and getting draft picks.” The Wings were on a slide when they drafted Larkin at No. 15 in 2014, gutted by trading draft picks to keep a historic playoff streak intact. They made the playoffs in Larkin’s rookie year (2015-16) but haven’t been back since. It appeared the team was on an upswing when Steve Yzerman was named general manager in
April 2019, as he drafted the likes of Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond. But the Wings fell apart in each of the past couple of Marches, losing footing in the playoff race, and the drought grew to a decade. Larkin addressed that issue in April. “I’d say the last four or five years where, you know, Mo and Lucas arrived and become star player,s in my opinion, and we’ve been pushing toward the playoffs and it hasn’t happened,” Larkin said. “I guess I’m just thinking
now going back to when I re-signed and, you know, signed an eight-year deal and I knew that we had work to do and 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.” Larkin is under contract through the 2030-31 season at a cap hit of $8.7 million. Maybe he reads the landscape and
does not see the Wings improving enough during the offseason to instill hope that the playoff drought will end. But it is a major decision to make, and it puts his relationship with the Wings under scrutiny − something that, so far, no one has been willing to talk about. Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings, trade request, Steve Yzerman, Pat Brisson, Waterford, Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, 2014 first round pick