The Detroit Red Wings and their captain, Dylan Larkin, are going through a public divorce. It won’t be pretty or fun. The mock trades for Wings media and fans might be, though.
Larkin’s trade request is a bit disappointing, for sure.
He’s a heart and soul player for the team, but tapped out right as the Red Wings seem to be turning a corner. When they need their leader the most, he ghosted like it was the middle of March.
Hindsight is 20/20. Steve Yzerman, should have traded him back in his firs few seasons as general manager. Maybe he would’ve fetched less, maybe more. At this point, there's no value in speculating.
Yzerman waited to name Larkin captain to ensure he understood where the organization was, who his players were and if Larkin was invested in the team. Clearly, Larkin gave assurances to Yzerman just as he has to fans time and again since.
While it’s understandable to want out, and we can’t predict how things play out, it’s eye-popping to have a captain go to “the Captain” and say it’s too much. Or, maybe he wants to be closer to his other parts of his and his wife’s family. Maybe, he received news about his health that has drastically expedited his timeline of winning a Cup. Maybe there was tampering by Billy Guerin (it’s strange how similar Larkin’s leak is to the rumors that swirled about Kirill Kaprizov when he was in a contract dispute).
Moving on will be hard, but the Wings have to make it for the better regardless of the path taken.
Two roads lie ahead for Larkin, Red Wings
There seems to be two main crossings that the Red Wings have with this Larkin situation.
They can either get a bit younger player back, who likely fills a lesser role (at least for the next season or two), or they can enter a new rebuild or retool.
There are more options, of course, but there’s a third option that seems necessary.
Detroit Red Wings need to prune, not rebuild or retool
My immediate family doesn’t have a green thumb, but my dad chose to give me a pair of hedge clippers when I was about 10 years old. Then, he told me to trim everything down in the backyard. I followed the instructions I was given.
When he came out to look, horror struck his face. I took that poor rose bush we had down to about an inch. (To be fair, I didn’t even know what a rose bush looked like).
Granted, it was just a bunch of thorns without any flowers in the number of years we lived there. It didn’t stop the tongue lashing I received from my parents, though. Surprisingly, the rose bush not only survived, she thrived in the years following. A complete shock to no decent gardener ever, but to us it was a wild series of events.
Yzerman has been given hedge clippers to complete the task he couldn’t do in 2019, 2020 or 2021.
He can ertainly cut the team to the stumps, if needed, but it’s likely that he'll give this team a light pruning.
Getting help back for Larkin (whether it’s players who can help now, in the future, or likely a bit of both) opens up opportunities to explore trades for other established Red Wings players.
They’re no longer bound by a Larkin-sized window. It’s a gift, really, if Yzerman can work some of his actual magic (magic that he really hadn’t the ability to work).
Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi were his biggest pieces, but neither were the caliber or impact of Larkin.
Yzerman, as studious and as dedicated to the Detroit Red Wings as any person has been committed to an organization, finally gets to put his guys in the driver seat.
No longer are we hoping for the Michael Rasmussens, Larkins or Joseph Velenos of the organization to work out.
Yzerman gets to slap the “C” on his chosen player (likely Moritz Seider who he personally invested countless hours into drafting) to breathe new life into a dying flame.
So far, the players Yzerman has personally had his hand in drafting have made positive impacts. He doesn’t have to search for immediate help and he doesn’t have to go all in for futures and rebuild/retool again unless he thinks that’s best.
Right now, there should be more confidence in Yzerman to get the Red Wings to the top in the next three-to-five seasons with this new found freedom to build his team.
Maybe the typical players won’t come, but Seider finishing fifth in the Norris voting should be a decent draw on its own. Lucas Raymond, face of both the Olympic and World Championships for Sweden, should garner growing interest in the upcoming seasons. If Alex DeBrincat stays, he can continue to draw interest as well.
We get to sit back and watch Yzerman build his actual contender. Not on Larkin's or any previous general manager's terms. This is where Yzerman will take his next steps into creating his dynasty.
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