Of Red Wings-related note from Bleacher Report this morning:
- Adam Gretz makes five trade predictions ahead of the 2026-2027 NHL season, including a non-trade prediction when it comes to disgruntled Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin:
Dylan Larkin Doesn’t Get Traded
Not all trade predictions have to involve an actual trade.
Sometimes it can just be the simple reality that a trade doesn’t happen.
What if Dylan Larkin’s problem with the Detroit Red Wings wasn’t necessarily a problem with the Red Wings organization itself? What if it was just a major disagreement with Steve Yzerman and the way he was running and building the team? Is it impossible to suggest? Is it too hard to believe that? Isn’t it possible that a new general manager could come in, smooth things over with the team’s captain, and get him to stay?
Stranger things have happened.
Even if Larkin does get traded, it’s not going to happen until that new general manager takes over, and even then it would almost certainly take some time for them to talk to teams, gather offers, and have a vision for what direction they want to take the team in. Larkin doesn’t seem like he is going to hold out, and all it might take is for a strong start to the season with a new vision in the front office.
The players in the locker room would almost certainly welcome him back because they are all pros and understand the business.
The fans might take some time, but winning cures everything.
Continued; I still believe that Larkin will be traded, but that’s just a gut feeling;
2. Joe Yerdon also mentioned the Red Wings this morning, suggesting that the Red Wings are one of 10 teams that will “disappoint” this upcoming season:
Detroit Red Wings
If there’s something Red Wings fans have learned over the past 10 years, it’s that things can always be worse. A decade out of the playoffs is hard enough but watching their team fade down the stretch the past few seasons made it harder to witness. Now they’ve got a team without a GM (for now) and with a team captain in Dylan Larkin who wants out and he’s still in.
Hopes and dreams in Detroit are to see harmony return and perhaps an end to their playoff drought. If the new GM can patch things up with Larkin or get a haul for the guy who’s scored 30-plus goals in five straight seasons, then hope can have a chance to grow for the Red Wings. As time rolls on with none of these issues settled, it’s hard to not believe it’ll be another disappointing season for the Red Wings.
Wings fans can feel good about Moritz Seider’s growth into one of the finest defensemen in the league and for Lucas Raymond’s continued improvement on the wing, but without Larkin and without a GM to guide the organization in arguably the most competitive division in the NHL, Detroit may be home to a deep pit of depression.
Continued; we’ll have to wait and see here.
