Red Wings take another visible step away from Dylan Larkin amid trade standoff
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Detroit has removed its Dylan Larkin banner outside Little Caesars Arena, the latest visible sign of a trade standoff that still has no resolution.
Nick Cotsonika reported that the Larkin banner is gone from outside Little Caesars Arena.
The Red Wings have not publicly explained the decision, and no trade has been announced.
For now, this is a symbolic move rather than a transaction.
How the standoff got here
Larkin asked for a trade in the offseason after Detroit's playoff drought reached a decade.
The club stripped him of the captaincy in September and took his photo off the captains' bench inside the arena.
He was then loudly booed during introductions at the October 2 season opener.
The situation escalated on October 29.
Interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said Larkin's agent had informed the team that the center would no longer play for Detroit, and the Red Wings suspended him without pay.
Larkin is forfeiting roughly $41,000 a day.
The banner coming down fits the arc: the organization has been steadily removing the visual markers of Larkin's place in the building.
What it means for a trade
Larkin, 30, has a full no-trade clause and five years left on his contract at an $8.7 million cap hit, so any deal needs his approval.
He initially named Florida, Minnesota and Vegas, then reportedly widened his list to 10 teams to speed things along.
Horcoff has said that list makes a deal hard to get done, and that any trade must also serve Detroit's long-term interests.
The Red Wings have said they would consider players who can help right away, prospects or draft picks in return for a player of Larkin's caliber.
He has 278 goals and 649 points in 818 games, all with Detroit, and he was part of the U.S. team that won Olympic gold at the Milan Cortina Games.
That résumé keeps the asking price high, even with a restricted list of partners.
Time pressure now runs both ways.
Larkin is losing salary every day, and Detroit is sitting on a veteran center it cannot play.
The team moved on the night of the suspension with a 4-1 win over Chicago, and it recently signed Alex DeBrincat to a seven-year deal, but it still sat tied for last in the Atlantic Division when the suspension was announced.
Until a deal materializes, the banner coming down says plenty about where this relationship stands, but nothing about where Larkin will land.
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