Sports Illustrated’s establishing a blog dedicated to Red Wings coverage, which is always good (more coverage is better coverage), but it’s mostly posted articles involving “lists.”
Today, SI’s Nathan Smith discusses the “3 Worst-Case Scenarios” for the Red Wings this upcoming season, and I honestly believe that this one is going to come to pass thanks to Detroit’s GM search (and the fact that Detroit needs to find “equal value” for their disgruntled captain):
Dylan Larkin Trade Saga Finds no Conclusion Into the Regular Season
This off-season in Detroit has been relatively quiet in terms of player moves, but it has been filled with speculation and discussion, primarily focused on captain Dylan Larkin and his trade request. When Larkin first made his request, he named three teams to which he would accept a trade: the Minnesota Wild, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Florida Panthers. He later added the Dallas Stars to that list, which has limited the Red Wings organization’s ability to negotiate a deal.
Again, it’s Helene St. James’ word (Larkin hasn’t added Dallas to his list) vs. Ansar Khan’s word here (Larkin added Dallas to his list), so there’s not really a consensus here…
It’s now August, and a resolution has not been found; there are still two full months to go before the regular season begins, and there’s some expectation that an end to this saga isn’t anywhere in sight. With the departure of Steve Yzerman, there have also been some suggestions that Larkin could change his mind, but with so much being said by all parties this off-season, the overwhelming expectation in Detroit is that a trade is still coming.
Again, I don’t see Larkin changing his mind due to the managerial shake-up in Detroit. Especially given the ownership’s tendencies regarding trade requests, once you’re asking “out,” you’re “out.”
The worst thing for this locker room would be their captain to begin the regular season with an active trade request. While he could still help the team on the ice, if the players around him know he’s not committed, it will lead to a toxic environment that worsens things down the line. If Larkin changes his mind, the Red Wings can enter the regular season with a good top-six and hope of competing for a Wild Card spot. If there’s no resolution and Larkin remains firm in wanting to be dealt, the ripple effects through the organization could have incredibly negative outcomes for the team in the short and long term.
Continued; if Yzerman was still the GM, I could see the Red Wings demanding that Larkin show up for training camp and play regular season games for Detroit; my hope is that he’s told to not report to training camp, lest the “toxic environment” theory come to pass.
I really don’t think that the Red Wings are going to trade Larkin until much closer to the start of the regular season, if not in October or November (it may take a star player on another team suffering an injury for Larkin to be moved).
This is a complicated situation, especially as we’ve been told over and over again that the presumptive frontrunners, the Minnesota Wild, are offering center Danila Yurov, prospect Charlie Stramel and a 1st round pick for Larkin.
Maybe I’m just girding for the worst here, but I don’t see the Wings making a Larkin trade until a new GM/president of hockey operations is/are in place, and that’s going to take some time to shake itself out.
Moreover, as previously suggested, it’s entirely possible, if not probable, that another team’s star center is going to end up getting hurt to force team X to trade a more presently-oriented trade package in return for Larkin’s services.
My recommendation is that we all buckle up for a strange ride and expect this one to “go long.”
I would say that, ultimately, the Red Wings’ front office doesn’t have that much pressure to trade Larkin until the regular season draws near, too, so this is just one of those situations that’s going to take time to resolve itself.
In my opinion, the break-up is very real, but the resolution thereof isn’t going to come quickly.
