I am stunned and gutted by the news from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has requested a trade from the team.
As a fan, I can’t tell you enough good things about Larkin. I believe that, over the course of his 9-year tenure with the team, he’s done nothing but give 100% for his coaches, teammates and fans, and he’s been bloody proud to wear the Winged Wheel and represent the team as its captain.
I don’t know where things went south between captain and team, though ESPN’s Emily Kaplan offered some significant hints as to why the relationship between the captain and the management team has gone sour.
All of that being said, as both a fan and a blogger, I believe that the Red Wings are in a tricky position right now–in terms of maximizing 29-year-old Larkin’s value, amidst a dry desert of a free agent marketplace.
Larkin is a #1 center in the right situation, and he’s a 65-to-75 point-scorer and 25-goal-scorer, and while he’s made his desire to leave the Wings for a fresh start clear…
We all know that GM Steve Yzerman isn’t going to be backed into a corner. He’s going to ask for a top-of-the-line return, which includes the usual: a strong roster contributor, a prospect, and a first-round draft pick.
Yzerman can ask for that much because of Larkin’s “motor,” on and off the ice, as a driver of play, and he cannot settle for less just because Larkin’s demands have become public.
He’s a trade asset now (and a trade asset with an affordable contract under the ever-expanding salary cap), and whether you loved him or loathed him, especially because the free agent marketplace is so incredibly dead, it’s going to be up to the Red Wings’ management to hit a home run while accommodating the captain’s wishes for a new start.
Again, as a fan, I’m genuinely sad and hurt about Larkin’s decision to choose a different path. But as a pseudo-analyst of the team, I want my team to do its damnedest to treat Larkin like nothing more than an asset that is to be leveraged for a maximal return.
