It’s been over two months since the trade request of Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was made public by NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman.
Larkin’s trade request was confirmed by now-former GM Steve Yzerman in late June following the 2026 NHL Draft; Yzerman said Larkin’s agent requested the trade shortly after the season ended, and he made it clear that there was no guarantee the request would be granted.
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Since then, the Red Wings not only experienced a major leadership transition with Yzerman vacating his role, but they also lost UFA forward Patrick Kane, who chose to return to the Chicago Blackhawks.
In the meantime, whoever takes over Detroit’s GM position will have to deal with the pressing Larkin situation.
Former Red Wings defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo, now an NHL insider for TSN, believes a deal between Detroit and the Florida Panthers would have already materialized if one were going to happen, given that Florida was reportedly on the very short list of teams Larkin would accept a trade to.
“We’re halfway through the month of August. If this deal was going to get done, it would be done by now,” he said this week 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.”
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Colaiacovo concluded by acknowledging the growing possibility that Larkin could begin the season in Detroit while also pointing to an obvious obstacle to trading him: the Red Wings are currently searching for Steve Yzerman’s successor.
Red Wings’ Offseason Stuck In Neutral As Big Questions Remain Unanswered
“Yeah, Larkin’s probably going to have to start in Detroit,” he said. “They also don’t have a GM right now, which is another problem in trying to trade him.”
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Colaiacovo, a 470-game NHL veteran, spent the 2012-13 season with the Red Wings after signing a two-year deal in September 2012. Injuries limited him to six games during the lockout-shortened regular season, though he appeared in nine playoff games. Detroit then bought out the final year of his contract.
The Red Wings are set to open Training Camp in Detroit on September 17, followed by their first preseason game on September 21 in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.
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