Updated 3x at 3:59 PM: As you know from the “Tweets of note” post, Red Wings interim GM Shawn Horcoff announced that Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin will not be participating in the start of training camp due to an upper-body injury suffered over the course of off-ice training this past week. Larkin was seen by team doctors and will be re-evaluated as necessary.
So, the news media understandably pounced upon this conveniently-timed news, starting with TSN:
Larkin, 30, was at the centre of a tumultuous offseason for the team, coming off a 10th straight spring without playoff hockey. The team’s captain, Larkin issued a trade request in early June, offering the team a preferred list of destinations. No trade could be found and the team announced last week that Larkin would be at camp, but had been stripped of the captaincy.
On Tuesday, Red Wings owner Chris Ilitch said Larkin spending the entire season with the team is a possibility. He has five years left on an eight-year, $69.6 million deal signed ahead of the 2023-2024 season. He is contracted through the summer of 2031.
In the weeks after the Larkin bombshell, general manager Steve Yzerman abruptly stepped down with the appointment of Horcoff on an interim basis coming on Tuesday. The former Edmonton Oilers forward remains a candidate for the permanent position.
A native of Waterford, MI, Larkin has 643 points in 808 career games across 11 NHL seasons, all with the Red Wings.
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan confirmed…
Dylan Larkin won’t be with the Red Wings as training camp begins Thursday.
General manager Shawn Horcoff said Larkin suffered an upper-body injury during training earlier this week and his start with on-ice activities will be delayed.
Larkin requested a trade earlier this summer, but Red Wings interim general manager Shawn Horcoff wouldn’t address whether Larkin’s position has changed.
MLive’s Ansar Khan also noted this…
Horcoff declined to answer any questions related to Larkin's trade request, saying they're keeping that in-house. https://t.co/J7WyZ9rE2B
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) September 16, 2026
Also today: Red Wings interim GM Shawn Horcoff said Dylan Larkin suffered an upper-body injury this week during training and won’t be on-ice at the start of camp
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 16, 2026
Shawn Horcoff on whether Dylan Larkin could become distraction for Red Wings: "We’re a better team with Dylan in our lineup."
— 97.1 The Ticket: (@971theticketxyt) September 16, 2026
The plan for next captain: "That’ll work itself out."
Says he has "full authority to make decisions on all hockey operations," including a Larkin trade. pic.twitter.com/2RkkNcCewr
Update: The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a 4:50 video of Horcoff’s remarks about being the GM and sharing Larkin’s injury news.
Update #2: Here’s more from Khan:
“He’s been seen by our doctors,” Horcoff said. “He’ll be at training camp with the team rehabbing, but he won’t be on the ice participating. That’s going to take him a little bit of time to get back from it. When we have a better timeline of when he will be back and available, we’ll let everybody know.
“At some point when he starts feeling better, of course we’re going to integrate him into on-ice sessions, and he’ll be back and skating with the team.”
Horcoff declined to answer questions regarding Larkin’s trade request, saying they are keeping those discussions in-house. There has been no indication from either side whether he still wants to be moved or has rescinded that request.
“We’ve kind of released a statement on that,” Horcoff said. “I think it’s important for us to keep that private and in-house.”
Update #3: Here’s St. James in text form:
“One thing I do want to touch on: Dylan sustained an injury earlier this week,” Horcoff said. “He’s been seen by our doctors. He’ll be at the training camp with the team, rehabbing, but he won’t be on the ice participating. It’s going to take him a little bit of time to get back from it, and when we have a better timeline of when he will be back and available, we’ll let everybody know.”
Horcoff said Larkin injured himself training, and that the hope is he’ll be back before the end of camp.
“At some point when he starts feeling better, we’re going to integrate him into on ice sessions, and he’ll be back and skating with the team,” Horcoff said. “There’s no timeline for that right now.”
It’s the latest development in a saga that has enveloped the offseason since news broke in early June that Larkin had requested a trade shortly after the season ended in mid-April.
Horcoff said the team “would keep private” whether there’s been any discussion regarding Larkin rescinding the request, or expanding the three team list (Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights) he used his no-trade clause to dictate where he was willing to be traded.
“I think it’s important for us to keep that private and in-house,” Horcoff said. “I understand it’s a massive area of interest for not just you guys, but the fans as well, but again, I want to reiterate that we’re going to keep those conversations private between Dylan and the organization. There was a lot that kind of went into that, and we’ve had good discussions with Dylan, and we’re happy that he’s here at camp. He has the full support of us, and we look forward to get him healthy and back on ice.”
