Speaking after morning skate ahead of their game against the Chicago Blackhawks (7:30 p.m. ET; Disney+, HULU, ESPN+, SN+), McLellan said interim general manager Shawn Horcoff would address the situation later.
Larkin requested a trade this summer, which was made public. The Red Wings then announced on September 11 that the 30-year-old forward would no longer be the team captain, a role he had held since January 13, 2021. Detroit began this season without a captain.
Larkin has six points (two goals, four assists) in 10 games this season. He has five seasons remaining on an eight-year contract worth $69.6 million ($8.7 million average annual value) that he signed with Detroit on March 1, 2023. He missed the preseason and the first two games of the regular season with an upper-body injury, and was booed during introductions during Detroit’s season opener, a 2–0 loss to the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena on October 2.
He returned to action on October 6, turned the boos into cheers with a goal and an assist in a 5–3 home victory over the Ottawa Senators and was announced as the first star to a mix of boos and cheers.
“I think it’s going to take time,” Horcoff said Oct. 14. “He’s working on getting over that. I think it’s only going to get easier for him as things progress here and he starts to find his game and his legs a little bit more. It hasn’t been easy for him.”
“I have to give Dylan a lot of credit for the way he’s handled this situation. It’s definitely not an easy situation, but he has the full support of management. He has the full support of his teammates, the coaching staff, and he came back and really came to play from the get-go. and Dylan in his own words.”
Larkin did not practice Wednesday before being held out of the lineup Thursday.
A native of Waterford, Michigan, Larkin was selected by the Red Wings in the first round (15th) of the 2014 NHL Draft. He has 649 points (278 goals, 371 assists) in 818 regular season games and scored a goal in his only appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a five-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2016 Eastern Conference.
Larkin set an NHL career high with 34 goals last season, and he has scored at least 30 goals six times, including each of the last five seasons. From 2021 to 2026, he has scored 160 goals, 37 more than anyone else for Detroit. He ranks 10th in Red Wings history in goals and points and 11th in assists.
Detroit (5-4-3) is currently last in the Atlantic Division. It hasn’t qualified for the playoffs since 2016; the 10-season drought is currently the longest in the NHL.
NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika contributed to this report
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