NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika posted a report about Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin’s unavailability for the first two games of Detroit’s regular season…
Dylan Larkin is out for the Detroit Red Wings’ first two games of the season due to an upper-body injury, coach Todd McLellan said Thursday.
The Red Wings hope he will return against the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday after missing the season opener against the New York Rangers on Friday (6:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN1) and another home game against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
“He’s working with the training staff to push through,” McLellan said. “I’m hoping Game 3.”
Larkin, Detroit’s No. 1 center, requested a trade after last season and lost the captaincy entering this season, but he reported to training camp. He could not participate at first due to an upper-body injury sustained in offseason training.
“I got hurt in the gym working out, and I’m pushing to get healthy, and I want to be out there,” Larkin said Sept. 17, the first day of camp. “This is very unfortunate timing. I wish I could show with my actions how to build trust with my teammates again.”
Larkin went through some drills but did not take line rushes in practice Thursday.
And the Free Press’s Helene St. James wondered aloud whether Larkin might be skirting the pressure of dealing with player introductions during the home opener:
All players are usually introduced as part of opening night traditions, with injured players and healthy scratches coming out on the bench rather than the ice. But given the controversy surrounding Larkin after he asked the team to trade him, that could be courting a spirited reaction from fans.
Teammates would just like to have him in their lineup again.
“We need him as a player, and I think that’s what matters the most,” Moritz Seider said. “There will be questions along the way, but I think that’s between him and management, nothing really we can control, And then looking from the teammate and friend perspective, obviously we want him here and he can really help our team, so the more comfortable he feels with the situation, the better we are.”
