It’s called a Friday news dump, and, boy, is that an accurate description of the Detroit Red Wings’ pitiful trajectory.
While the nation was mourning the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks – while the names of the victims were still being read at Ground Zero in New York, actually – the team posted a major news update on social media (yep, no formal press release) on Friday, Sept. 11, announcing the removal of the captain's "C" from Dylan Larkin.
That was actually part of a post featuring Larkin's first comments since last season ended – and since he asked for a trade – stating he will be at training camp when it opens at Little Caesars Arena next week.
Because the Wings have been without a general manager since Steve Yzerman was removed from the position July 15, the team has been in a state of leadership limbo when it comes to dealing with a big issue like Larkin’s fate.
“When new leadership is in place,” Larkin said in his tweet, “we’ll talk further about the direction of the team. We will keep those conversations private, and I will keep my focus on the season ahead and on the guys in that room.”
The guys in that room? C’mon, Dylan. You mean the guys in that room who you were so desperately ready to abandon?
It’s one thing for Larkin to ask for a trade – I can’t blame him for that, if it was based on a difficult relationship with Yzerman and a lack of faith in the team’s direction. But it’s quite another thing to now start acting as though there’s still some kind of “band of brothers” vibe.
So the Wings were right to strip Larkin of his "C." They posted Friday that the season will start without a captain being named: “Any further discussions or decisions regarding this topic will be made once new hockey operations leadership is in place.”
But the Wings didn’t go far enough. They should have jumped right to naming defenseman Moritz Seider as captain – which is pretty much a no-brainer for whoever the new GM is. As I noted, though, the Wings are in leadership limbo, which makes it hard to make big organizational decisions.
Of course, I’m sure the Wings are setting this up as a major celebratory announcement when the time is right so that the new GM can get a public-relations win with some positive news, which the team has been sorely lacking for months.
But stripping a player of his captaincy and immediately naming his replacement isn’t unprecedented among the NHL ranks. After all, that’s what the Los Angeles Kings did in June 2016, naming Anze Kopitar as captain to replace Dustin Brown, whose production had slipped. Mind you, this was just two years removed from Brown captaining the Kings to two Stanley Cups in three years.
Brown, at least, remained as an alternate captain until he retired with the Kings in 2022. Unless the Wings can conjure the spirt of Nelson Mandela to broker a truce between Larkin and the team, however, it’s impossible to imagine Larkin staying in Detroit for the remainder of his contract, which runs through 2031.
I don’t think Larkin would become a dressing-room cancer. But I’ve seen enough unhappy players in locker rooms to know it’s never in a team’s best interest to keep them around, especially one as prominent as Larkin.
That’s why I suggested the Lions trade running back David Montgomery a few months ago, even though they would miss his contributions on the field and wouldn’t get equal value in a trade. My next suggestion: The Wings need to hire a GM soon and trade Larkin as quickly as possible.
Sometimes it’s not about winning a trade or even being scared of setting the precedent that a player can dictate his terms. Sometimes, it's just about moving forward.
The Wings took a small step in that direction with the news that Larkin would return but without his captaincy. Now they need to take bigger, bolder steps if they truly want to change the organization’s troubling trajectory.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
For (preseason) openers: Blue Jackets
Matchup: Red Wings (41-31-10 in 2025-26) at Columbus (40-30-12 in 2025-26); exhibition opener.
Faceoff: 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21; Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio.
TV/radio: None.
Regular-season opener: vs. N.Y. Rangers; 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2; TNT, truTV.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings right to strip Dylan Larkin of captain's 'C'
