2026 NHL Playoffs

[Pakuni]

Besides the obvious pluses of playing with his brother on a Cup contender, hard to get much more of a locational upgrade as a young athlete on a 8 figure contract than going from Ottawa to South Florida, unless he was in Winnipeg.

Feel bad for Sens fans. That franchise has a long and storied history of alienating and/or trading away star players.

[JWags85]

Brutal press conference from Dylan Larkin in the days after the Red Wings stripped him of his captaincy.  That move was a delayed from earlier in July when he requested a trade.

But if you needed a sense of just how bad things are in Detroit, Larkin not only was the captain, but he's a Detroit native who played local (and has social media videos of him playing hockey in a Wings jersey in his basement with buddies as a teen), then went to USNTDP (which is Detroit suburbs), then played at Michigan for a season, then drafted by the Wings and was a key component straight away at 19, became the captain by 25.  He's literally living every kids dream of being the captain on their worshipped hometown team and on a huge contract doing so...and still wants out.

But I get it.  Detroit haven't made the playoffs in TEN YEARS, absolutely insane for a franchise like the Red Wings.  He complained about their lack of front office moves last year and it seems like they were being morons again this off season.  He'll be a villain in his hometown, but dude is still only 30 and wants to win, I don't really blame him.

[Hards Alumni]

Speaking of brutal press conferences... Alex O... is a dumbass.

[Uncle Rico]

Speaking of brutal press conferences... Alex O... is a dumbass.

Surprised he hasn't been at any MAGA rallies

[Pakuni]

Brutal press conference from Dylan Larkin in the days after the Red Wings stripped him of his captaincy.  That move was a delayed from earlier in July when he requested a trade.

But if you needed a sense of just how bad things are in Detroit, Larkin not only was the captain, but he's a Detroit native who played local (and has social media videos of him playing hockey in a Wings jersey in his basement with buddies as a teen), then went to USNTDP (which is Detroit suburbs), then played at Michigan for a season, then drafted by the Wings and was a key component straight away at 19, became the captain by 25.  He's literally living every kids dream of being the captain on their worshipped hometown team and on a huge contract doing so...and still wants out.

But I get it.  Detroit haven't made the playoffs in TEN YEARS, absolutely insane for a franchise like the Red Wings.  He complained about their lack of front office moves last year and it seems like they were being morons again this off season.  He'll be a villain in his hometown, but dude is still only 30 and wants to win, I don't really blame him.

I have zero issue with any player working behind the scenes to get himself moved to a situation he feels is in his better interests. But it's pretty clownish to make your trade demand public, then refuse to offer even a little explain for it in public.
If Larkin came out and said "I've given my best to this organization for 10 years, but I don't feel the organization has matched my commitment to success and believe now is a time to part ways," I imagine many Red Wings would understand. They may not like hearing that, but they'd have a hard time objectively disagreeing with it.
Refusing to offer an explanation feels kind of cowardly.

On top of that, demanding a trade but then using your no-trade clause to limit the Red Wings options to three contending teams - Vegas, Minnesota and Florida - that would struggle to package the assets for a solid offer makes this all worse. It takes away any team leverage to get a fair deal and makes Larkin look like a guy who's seeking the easiest possible path to a Cup.

[MU82]

Surprised he hasn't been at any MAGA rallies

Now, now, he only endorsed the puppetmaster, not the puppet.