Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has requested a trade, a league source told The Athletic.
The request, which was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, could have franchise-changing implications for the Red Wings.
Larkin has been Detroit’s captain since 2021 and is the only current Red Wing who was on the team for its last playoff appearance in 2016. He has played 11 seasons in Detroit — his hometown team, growing up in nearby Waterford, Mich. — with 643 points in 808 games. The Red Wings, however, have not made the playoffs since Larkin’s rookie year in 2015-16, a 10-year drought that stands as the longest active streak in the NHL.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman and Larkin, who will turn 30 at the end of July, appeared to clash publicly a year ago after Larkin’s comments about the Red Wings’ lack of moves at the 2025 trade deadline. Certainly, Larkin’s frustration has, at times, been evident through the playoff drought.
Still, this is a shocking development.
Entering the summer, the Red Wings were, of course, frustrated by yet another late-season collapse but still sounded like a team trying to get over the hump and into the playoffs. When asked after the season about his patience, Larkin spoke like someone who expected to be back in Detroit.
Discussing the eight-year contract he signed back in 2023, he said: “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 a Stanley Cup.”
Now, with this news, the entire outlook changes for the Red Wings.
Larkin has a full no-trade clause, which complicates the situation further. He will have some control over the process, which could limit the Red Wings’ options.
