Red Wings Can’t Wait Forever on Dylan Larkin Trade

The Detroit Red Wings have made their position clear. After Dylan Larkin informed the club he would no longer play for Detroit, the team suspended him without pay on Oct. 29, and interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said he is willing to be patient on a trade.

“I’m prepared to wait as long as necessary,” Horcoff said, according to NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika. It is a strong message, and it protects Detroit from looking desperate. It also ignores a simple reality: the longer this drags on, the more it could cost the Red Wings.

Horcoff and Larkin Can’t Both Hold Their Ground

Horcoff’s stance runs directly into Larkin’s. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that “Larkin will not play until a trade occurs,” and the former captain’s agent, Pat Brisson, said in a statement: “Dylan’s had enough of the situation. We believe he’s been very professional and cooperative through this process.”

The split became public when the center was absent from practice on Oct. 28, a day before the suspension. That leaves both sides dug in. Detroit won’t move Dylan Larkin for less than it wants, and he won’t play until the club moves him. Something eventually has to give, and the calendar is not neutral in that standoff.

The club’s own statement made the stakes clear. Horcoff said any trade needs the center’s approval and “must also be in the best interests of the Detroit Red Wings.” Larkin’s no-trade protection still limits the market, and the interim GM acknowledged that the list makes a deal difficult.

Why Waiting Can Lower Larkin’s Trade Value

The most obvious cost is visibility. Larkin had two goals and four assists in 10 games this season after returning from an upper-body injury. Every week he sits, contenders lose the chance to scout him against NHL competition, and that makes it harder for Detroit to argue he is worth a premium return.

He is still a proven player. Larkin has scored 30 goals six times and ranks 10th in franchise history with 649 points in 818 games. But a 30-year-old center who isn’t playing becomes a harder sell the longer his last game fades into the past.

Rival General Managers Know the Situation

The suspension also tells the rest of the league something important. Detroit’s statement confirmed that Larkin told the club he will no longer play for it. Interested teams know the Red Wings can’t use him on the ice, and that can shift the leverage toward the buyers, not the seller.

That is a different situation from the one we described when we argued the Red Wings held leverage in trade talks earlier this month. Back then, Larkin was playing and Detroit could afford to keep him. Now the club is paying nothing to keep a player it can’t use, but it also can’t get anything out of him until a deal is done.

The Hellebuyck Precedent

The league has already seen how this kind of standoff ends. Connor Hellebuyck asked out of Winnipeg, did not report to training camp, and was suspended without pay. The standoff stretched into late October before the Jets traded him to New Jersey on Oct. 23.

Winnipeg waited, but it didn’t wait forever. The deal for Connor Hellebuyck came on the same day his suspension was set to end, as our coverage of the suspension timeline outlined. Our breakdown of Larkin’s limited leverage noted how costly that route was for the player. The standoff in Detroit now shows it can be costly for the team, too.

The Red Wings Have Other Problems to Solve

Detroit is not playing poorly without him. The Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on the night of the suspension and are 5-1-3 in their last nine games. Head coach Todd McLellan said the group is “moving on,” and that is a positive sign for the room.

The front office’s workload is another matter. Simon Edvinsson is still unsigned and faces a Dec. 1 deadline, which is why we argued the Red Wings must sign him first. An unresolved Larkin standoff only adds to that pressure.

Red Wings’ Patience Needs a Plan

Horcoff is right not to give Larkin away. A center with this track record and five seasons left on an $8.7 million contract should bring back real value. The Red Wings have also kept the market narrow for good reason, as our look at his 10-team list and its fits showed.

Still, “as long as necessary” can’t become a strategy on its own. Detroit’s best return probably comes sooner rather than later, while Larkin’s recent production is fresh and before contenders settle their rosters for the stretch run. The Red Wings can afford to be patient. They can’t afford to wait forever.