Larkin Expresses Frustration with Red Wings Trade Deadline Approach

Dylan Larkin is not just the Red Wings captain.  He is also the team's longest tenured player, the only one left with first hand experience of playoff hockey in Detroit, and he grew up 40 minutes northwest of Little Caesars Arena in Waterford.  When you put it all together, it's no surprise that Larkin wears his team's shortcomings and nine season playoff drought the hardest.  At Saturday's locker clean-out day, Larkin expressed one particular aspect of that frustration.Mar 14, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) comes off the ice after the warmups before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory, Imagn Images)

Specifically, Larkin drew a line between his team's struggles in the month of March (a 4–10–0 record proving a major sink to their playoff aspirations) and the club's inactivity at the trade deadline.

"It was hard that we didn't do anything, and I felt the group kinda—we didn't gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kinda down about it," said a visibly frustrated Larkin.  "So it'd be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well."

In that sentiment, Larkin expresses disappointment (seemingly on behalf of himself and his teammates) at the way general manager Steve Yzerman handled the trade deadline, where Detroit made one move (swapping one bottom six forward for another along with a goaltender who managed five starts before suffering a season-ending injury).

In this moment, there isn't tremendous benefit in relitigating the Red Wings' deadline approach.  Instead, what feels more significant is Larkin publicly expressing his frustration with Yzerman. 

With each passing playoff-less season, Detroit's need for radical action increases.  At this point, there is no reason to believe Larkin is not a part of the next Cup-contending Red Wings team, and by no means did his comments scan as a trade request.  However, Larkin did point out that his runway for contention is not boundless (noting that he may never play a NHL game with someone Detroit picks in the fourth round of June's Draft).  Given his frustration (evident in his words and his face as he says them), it's worth wondering about how things will play out between Larkin and the Red Wings moving forward.

Larkin himself spoke to his profound desire to win a championship with his hometown team, while also naming the obvious reality that Detroit isn't yet especially close to that objective: "I do take it hard, and I wanna help this team get to the playoffs.  And not just get to the playoffs but win the Stanley Cup.  That's the ultimate goal here is not just make the playoffs but winning the Stanley Cup, and we have a lot of work to do all over the board here for us to become champions."

So what do you think: Will Dylan Larkin be on the next Red Wings team to make the playoffs?  Will he be on the next Detroit team to win a playoff round?  Will he be on the next Red Wings team to win the Stanley Cup?