News of Dylan Larkin’s trade request remains surreal to Detroit Red Wings fans. After all, it’s not every day that a star player asks to be moved. And it’s certainly not common to hear of a team captain asking to bail.
But that’s the reality that appears to have befallen the Red Wings. And it should serve as an indictment of the entire Steve Yzerman administration.
When the Red Wings embarked on their rebuild about a decade ago, the plan seemed like a necessary evil to return the team to another three-decade window of contention.
Larkin was a fantastic cornerstone for the organization. But with the 29-year-old in the league for about a decade, it seems his patience has grown thin.
Yes, Detroit has numerous elite pieces. Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond are players any team would kill to have. But the weak links are the ones that have doomed the club. The annual tradition that is the March collapse has held the Red Wings back from truly contending in the Eastern Conference.
This season was no different.
It seemed like the Red Wings were ready to bust through. They led the Atlantic Division for a stretch this season. And then, gradually, Detroit receded until missing the playoffs entirely.
The simplistic view would be to blame the players or coach Todd McLellan. But the problems run much deeper than that. Anyone watching the Red Wings can attest that this club just wasn’t built for the long haul.
No amount of maneuvering at the trade deadline was enough to keep the Wings from sinking. Now, without Larkin, they’re poised to sink even further.
Yzerman has only himself to blame for Larkin trade request
Steve Yzerman has only himself to blame for the Dylan Larkin trade request. The Wings’ GM had several opportunities to put the team over the top this season. The Red Wings seemed like the presumptive landing spot for Quinn Hughes.
That didn’t happen.
The Red Wings seemed like they could land Rasmus Andersson, and that didn’t happen. It was the same story with Vincent Trocheck and even Robert Thomas. In the end, the Wings got Justin Faulk.
Faulk was a good pickup, but not nearly enough to catapult the Red Wings into a playoff spot next season.
Sadly, Red Wings fans can forget about Yzerman landing a king’s ransom for Larkin. The Red Wings’ GM has little leverage in this situation. Since Larkin has a full no-trade clause, he controls his destiny.
That’s the situation likely working against Yzerman. Even if Yzerman could secure the moon for Larkin, the current Red Wings captain could just shake his head.
It begs a bigger question: what does a return for Larkin look like? And what should Red Wings fans expect this offseason?
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