Last year brought more disappointment to Detroit Red Wings fans.
Not only did they miss the playoffs for the tenth year in a row, but they also faced further disappointment when veteran team captain Dylan Larkin requested a trade out of Detroit on June 4th.
Larkin, who is from Waterford, Michigan and grew up a die-hard Red Wings fan, submitted to former general manager Steve Yzerman a list comprising of the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild as the three teams he would agree to be traded to. Later on in the summer, he would also include the Dallas Stars.
As the summer progressed, teams such as the New Jersey Devils, the Wild, the San Jose Sharks, and the Seattle Kraken were rumoured to be interested in a potential deal involving Larkin who is coming off a solid 67 point (34 goals, 33 assists) season.
Most recently, on social media, a story was floating around about a blockbuster trade rumour involving Larkin heading to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for 6’5″ 230 pound power forward Quinton Byfield and 19 year-old left winger Vojtech Cihar heading to the Red Wings.
However, the million-dollar question heading towards September 17th, when Red Wings training camp opens up, is will Larkin still be a Red Wing? With the Red Wings looking for Yzerman’s replacement as team general manager, chances are Larkin will start the season in Detroit.
Another pressing question is how will Larkin be treated by teammates and coaching staff in camp after going public about wanting to be traded? Can having Larkin around lead to tension in the locker room and will it interfere with the Wings preparation for what will be a crucial season?
Also, can the 29 year-old really return as the team captain even though he probably won’t last the entire season in Motown?
Will the Detroit Red Wings Have Forward Dylan Larkin at Training Camp?
Following a tough offseason which includes seeing skilled veteran future Hall of Fame forward Patrick Kane leave as an unrestricted free agent for the Chicago Blackhawks, and of course licking their wounds after missing the playoffs for a 10th straight season, it’s essential that the Wings have limited distraction at training camp.
Recently, a former NHL defenseman who at one point played for the Red Wings named Carlo Colaiacovo, who now stars as an NHL Insider for TSN, believed that if something was going to happen with Florida in terms of a trade that it would have already happened.
“We’re halfway through the month of August. If this deal was going to get done, it would be done by now,” Colaiacovo said on First Up on TSN Radio 1050. “What Detroit wants and needs is someone to replace Dylan Larkin if they were to trade Dylan Larkin. And you look at his list of teams he’d be willing to go to, unless Florida’s like ‘Yeah, we’ll give you Anton Lundell and this and that,’ then maybe. But we know Florida wasn’t willing to do that at the time, which makes sense now considering some of the other moves they’ve made.”
It will be interesting to see what happens at training camp from not only how Larkin’s teammates and coaches treat him but how the fans will respond to seeing their beloved home town hero and veteran captain after making it known that he doesn’t want to be a Red Wing anymore.
Why Larkin Wants To Be Traded From the Wings
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the two major reasons why Larkin has requested a trade is due to a rocky relationship with former general manager Yzerman and frustration over the Wings not being able to make the playoffs. Part of the frustration could be that as already mentioned, the Wings haven’t made post-season in 10 years which now makes them the NHL team with the longest playoff drought.
Things got so bad between Yzerman and Larkin that they apparently hardly spoke to one another unless it’s a pressure matter.
“It’s not necessarily news that anyone saw coming, and it’s big news,” Friedman said about the trade request. “Second, Larkin’s involvement in the trade market is massive. He has a full no-trade clause both this season and next, so his control over the situation does not change July 1. He’s a top-line center in a league desperate for centers, so there’s going to be a ton of interest. His play at the 4 Nations and Olympics was stellar. That’s going to excite potential trade partners.”
Meanwhile, with Yzerman leaving on July 15th the general manager’s job, perhaps Larkin would have a change of heart once the Wings hire the new general manager and they could perhaps talk things out and shake hands.
In wanting out of Detroit, Larkin, might have to expand his list of teams he would agree to be traded to. It’s quite possible that with no deal as of yet to be reached that perhaps the Wings are asking to much in return from Florida, Minnesota, Vegas and Dallas.
The history of Yzerman’s and Larkin’s strained relationship goes back to when Hall of Fame forward and former Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg retired. Larkin believed that after Zetterberg left, the club hesitated and waited a few years before naming him team captain.
Wings Fans in Uproar Over Summertime Video Featuring LarkinÂ
Red Wings fans are frustrated and angry with the Larkin issue for more than one reason.
Besides requesting a trade, fans are upset over a video shot in July which has gone viral and generated a lot of attention featuring a smiling care-free Larkin wearing no shirt at the FIFA World Cup Finals.
Larkin was whooping it up in the crowd with fellow NHLers Cole Caufield (Montreal Canadiens), Trevor Zegras (Philadelphia Flyers) and Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators).
Red Wings fans believe that Larkin should be avoiding the media spotlight and laying low as opposed to acting so carefree when the Red Wings organization are going through a challenging summer.
Some fans even took to social media in commenting that Larkin looked rather out of shape.
No doubt, if Larkin isn’t traded by training camp, it will be hard for him to come back and be forgiven by the Red Wings fans. At this point, he would probably be seen more as a disruption if he was to still be a Wing at training camp. He definitely couldn’t be the captain and it would be better off for all parties if they just traded him sometime before camp.
Main Image: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
