Dylan Larkin Trade List Forcing Risky Reality for Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings might want to wrap their heads around the fact that Dylan Larkin will be back with the team to start the 2026-27 season. As GM Steve Yzerman looks for a trade, the superstar forward hasn’t made life any easier for the organization he’s said he no longer wants to be part of.

Larkin has a three-team list that he’s given the Red Wings and Yzerman a chance to talk to. None of them has presented offers that work for Detroit. That leaves both sides in an interesting spot.

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According to Red Wings reporter, Helene St. James:

“In two-plus months since requesting trade from Red Wings, Dylan Larkin has not expanded his list (he has a no-trade clause) from Florida, Minnesota, Vegas. No offers from those teams have intrigued Wings. They want value-now players for a 1C with very favorable contract.”

Understandably, Yzmerman isn’t going to dump Larkin just because the player wants to be somewhere else. He signed a long-term deal and asked for trade protection. Now that he doesn’t want to stay with the team he committed to, the Red Wings aren’t feeling the pressure to appease him by trading him for pennies on the dollar to one of his three preferred destinations. Yzmerman is waiting for the right deal. If it doesn’t come, Larkin won’t be going anywhere.

That puts the ball in Larkin’s court. He can either expand his list and make it easier for Yzerman to trade him, or he can return to the Red Wings, play his best, and hope the same three teams come back with better offers.

Could Detroit Do What Edmonton Did?

This situation is not that different than the Darnell Nurse deal in Edmonton. The Oilers got a list of three teams. They couldn’t find a deal they liked. Their response was to strike a deal with a different team, then hope Nurse would see how beneficial it would be to open up his list. That’s what ultimately happened with the San Jose Sharks.

As one fan wrote, “Maybe the Wings should stop worrying about what Larkin wants and aggressively find a deal they like then present to him. The teams on his no-trade list don’t have the assets we want, and he isn’t showing up to camp, so it would be in his best interest to help the Wings get a deal done.”

It would be risky for Larkin to choose not to show up for camp. He’d be putting pressure on the Red Wings, but he’d be costing himself big money and sending a message to other GMs that he’s the kind of player who bails on his teammates. This is not a situation where Larkin doesn’t have a contract. He does. Sitting out just because he wants a trade and no team has come with a strong enough offer looks bad on the player, not the team trying to trade him.

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