The Detroit Red Wings are hearing out trade suitors from every corner of the NHL after suspending team captain Dylan Larkin without pay on Thursday.
It’s been six months since the Waterford native and former University of Michigan hockey star asked for a trade — and three months since Red Wings owner Chris Ilitch ousted Steve Yzerman as general manager — and the two sides are still locked in bitter acrimony, culminating with Larkin’s refusal to play this week. The team responded with a formal suspension.
“You know, it's a head scratcher,” said Helene St. James, Red Wings beat writer for The Detroit Free Press. “What on earth happened between him and the Red Wings that he just couldn't stand being with the franchise for a minute longer?”
Larkin, who Red Wings fans booed in the first games of the 2026-27 season, has a contract that requires his agreement for any potential trade. He initially specified a list of three teams he saw as acceptable trade options. That list has apparently expanded to 10.
But the real question for the Red Wings front office is this: Which teams might deliver some much needed help at center?
“Probably the way it looks is that maybe it's going to end up being a multi-team trade,” St. James said. “The issue with the teams that he wants to go to is [that] they're all really good and competitive.”
Somewhere lies a sweet spot where competitive teams don’t give up draft picks they need, and Detroit gets players that will boost the team’s standing right away, St. James said.
“They need to do that to excite the fan base and, frankly, to send the right message to the likes of Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, because if you take picks or you take a player who isn't going to be in the league for another year or two, you're basically telling the team, ‘Look, we're probably going to miss the playoffs again next spring.’ And nobody wants to deliver that message.”
St James says players like Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård have picked up slack for the Red Wings, but no one disputes more help is needed.
Listen for Helene St. James’ full conversation with April Baer today on Stateside.
