Dylan Larkin will report to Detroit Red Wings training camp despite his offseason trade request.
The Red Wings center released a statement through the team on Friday, Sept. 11, asserting he will be at camp and will "talk further about the direction of the team" when new leadership is in place.
The Red Wings have been without a general manager since Steve Yzerman was removed from the role on July 15.
"Over the past couple of weeks, Red Wings leadership and I have had several in-depth discussions," Larkin's statement read. "I’ve appreciated those candid conversations, and I will be at training camp with my teammates. When new leadership is in place, 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 Red Wings also released statements in conjunction with Larkin, most notably stating they will open the season without an assigned captain.
"The Red Wings will begin the 2026-27 season without a captain being named," the statement read. "Any further discussions or decisions regarding this topic will be made once new hockey operations leadership is in place."
Shortly after the 2025-26 season ended on April 15, Larkin, represented by agent Pat Brisson, informed Yzerman that Larkin was requesting to be traded.
The Wings had just missed the playoffs for a 10th straight year, but it was still a stunning development, coming from the team's captain (since January 2021) and hometown draft pick (the Wings selected Larkin, from Waterford, at No. 14 in 2015).
When the Wings signed Larkin, 30, to an eight-year, $69.6 million extention on March 1, 2023, it included a no-trade clause that runs through 2027-28 (and then becomes a modified no-trade clause). That gives Larkin control of his destination, and the list he submitted to the Wings after making his request was limited to the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights. (The Wings were also in contact with the Dallas Stars, managed by former longtime Wings employee Jim Nill.)
Such a limited list hampered a trade, especially as Yzerman was looking for value-now player/s in return. The Wings are weak down the middle, and the potential of losing Larkin left a depth chart reading Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, Marco Kasper and Michael Rasmussen.
The Wings also wanted to gain in return what they were giving up in Larkin: a top-line center in his prime with five years left on a contract with an $8.7 million annual average value that looks all the more favorable in a league with a salary cap ceiling hitting $104 million starting in 2026-27. And on top of that, the Wings had just paid out $31 million in actual salary over the first three years, leaving $38.6 million, an average salary of $7.72 million, remaining.
As if that wasn't complicated enough, in mid-July there was another stunning development when the Wings announced Yzerman was transitioning from GM to senior advisor, leaving the Wings searching for new leadership for the front office, and the Larkin situation unresolved.
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dylan Larkin will report to camp, but Red Wings will open year without naming a captain
