The Detroit News’s Bob Wojnowski reacts as only “Wojo” can to Steve Yzerman’s remarks regarding Dylan Larkin’s trade demands. First, Wojnowski frames the situation well, noting that the Wings’ first-round draft pick, JP Hurlbert, said that his favorite player growing up was Larkin…
Maybe at one time, Larkin’s favorite player was Yzerman. But the link between captains is broken, and hope of a quick, amicable resolution is fading. Yzerman initially declined to address the issue until after he spoke about the draft. Then he delivered a blunt statement and took no questions. He confirmed the details of Larkin’s request, that it was made by his agent shortly after the season, followed by a short list of teams for whom he’d waive his no-trade clause. Yzerman’s options are limited and acceptable offers scarce, so far. And he doesn’t seem interested in clearing up the murkiness.
“Dylan has five years remaining on his contract,” Yzerman said Saturday. “My job as the manager of the Detroit Red Wings is always to do what’s in the best interest of the Detroit Red Wings, and I will act accordingly to that. I cannot make any guarantees and did not make any guarantees that the request could, or would, be met. There’s certainly a lot of uncertainty around that.”
And, after offering both Larkin’s probable perspective under an environment of Olympic success and what the NHL writers are calling “the era of player empowerment,” and fair criticism of Yzerman’s job steering his team’s still-on-wobbly-legs rebuild, Wojnowski offers this:
Yzerman can be unyielding and austere, more about business, less about feelings. But times and players are changing. Yzerman’s firm control and tough negotiating worked in Tampa, where he made excellent picks and drove hard bargains. That was almost 10 years ago, and Yzerman’s approach has taken a beating in Detroit. He has a modest talent core in Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Simon Edvinsson and DeBrincat, a solid coach in Todd McLellan, and decent prospects in the organization. He has respect and power, although both are waning.
Yzerman still has leverage and time to use it. Minnesota reportedly covets Larkin to play alongside another Olympian and friend, Quinn Hughes. The Wild boldly dealt for Hughes and desperately want to add more.
Depending on what Yzerman can get for Larkin, the rebuild sadly might require a rebuild, or at least a repurposing. Hurlbert sounds and plays like a younger Larkin, a skilled scorer. At one point Cossa was the goalie of the future, and that mantle now goes to Michal Postava or Trey Augustine.
Yzerman said Hurlbert, 18, was in a small group of players he was willing to leap for, if available at Utah’s No. 23 pick. It looks like a slight philosophical shift, as the Wings recognize the need to focus on offensive players, not just two-way players.
“He’s very skilled, he’s very smart,” said Kris Draper, Wings assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting. “He has a knack around the net, can score goals in different ways, and has good creativity with the puck on his stick. He’s going to Michigan and has an opportunity to play in a really good program that certainly stresses offense.”
That was Larkin a decade ago, when everything was bright and promising. It was Yzerman a decade ago, when he was putting together a Cup-winning team in Tampa. It can still work for both, although apparently not together, not here. It’s a shame with an uncertain end game. Letting this linger doesn’t serve anyone’s best interest.
Continued (paywall); letting the bad blood between Yzerman and Larkin submarine Larkin’s exit from Detroit definitely doesn’t help, but making a hasty or even not-so-hasty decision to accept less than a captain’s ransom for #71’s services makes no sense, either.
I understand that some folks rightfully feel that Yzerman should be more aggressive and proactive in general, as a general manager. I understand that we’re all both a little sympathetic to and a lot pissed off about Larkin’s plight. And that emotions are high for both parties…
But I believe that GM SY and the Red Wings’ management team will have to swallow hard, accept that this has gotten both public and publicly messy (see: Pat Brisson’s comments to Pierre LeBrun and Max Bultman this evening), and then pursue the best outcome for the Detroit Red Wings’ players, coaches and management who will remain here in the Motor City a little lesser without Larkin’s services.
The Wings may have to take a short step back for a part of the 2026-2027 season without Larkin in the fold, but, should the Wings’ management hold true to their principles, the team should be able to move forward, even if they’re somewhat weaker coming out of the start of the campaign in October.
Eventually, be it through trades, free agency, prospect development, or a combination of all three factors, the Wings will be better without Larkin. This summer’s free agent marketplace is bleak, however, so the Wings are arguably going to be weaker no matter what at center when Larkin leaves.
So we’re probably going to see the team be “thin” in the middle for a while, perhaps even an entire season, and they’ll have to manage to address a positional weakness by committee (even with Andrew Copp as the Wings’ #1 center, Marco Kasper, Emmitt Finnie and Mason Appleton are all natural centers, and they can help Copp, Michael Rasmussen, J.T. Compher and whoever graduates from Grand Rapids (Nate Danielson springs to mind) fill the void…
Until the Wings can naturally find a successor for Larkin up front. For better or worse, he’s been the team’s #1 center and captain, and it’s going to take a while to heal those wounds when he leaves and leaves two holes on the team (though a certain German-born defenseman is likely to help with the latter issue).
We’ll have to wait and see what happens this summer. The situation could change today, and it could take until September or October to rectify itself.
All we can do as Red Wings partisans is wait, and hope that the team makes the right decision in attempting to assuage an inevitable divorce.
