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Red Wings begin NHL play with lots of questions
The Detroit Red Wings have missed the last ten Stanley Cup playoffs, the longest active postseason drought in the National Hockey League.
They hope to end that streak in 2026-27. But first, they have to overcome much inner tumult.
That starts with a big question–what should they do about center Dylan Larkin?
Movin’ out?
The Wings drafted Larkin in 2014. He was a rookie the last time the team made the playoffs in 2016. They haven’t qualified since then.
The 30-year-old forward wants to compete for a Stanley Cup before he’s too old. When the 2025-26 ended, Larkin said he wanted out of Detroit, even though his contract has a no-trade clause.
Larkin asked then-General Manager Steve Yzerman to waive that clause and deal him to one of three contending teams. Yzerman was either unwilling or unable to meet Larkin’s demands. In July, Yzerman abruptly stepped down as GM.
As the new season begins, Larkin is still a Red Wing, but he is no longer the captain. Detroit Free Press hockey writer Helene St. James says he’s also nursing an upper body injury that could keep him off the ice.
“He missed all of the preseason,” she says. “He has practiced with the team, but so far has yet to be on a regular line, even in practice.”
Larkin anchors Detroit’s first line. He scored 34 goals last season. St. James says it wouldn’t be easy to replace that kind of production, especially since the team doesn’t have a strong second-line center.
“The question is who’s going to score the goals?” she asks. “Patrick Kane is gone. James Van Riemsdyk is gone. That’s 31 goals between them.”
Even if Larkin stays with the team and returns to the ice, they still have to find a new leader. His trade demand cost him the “C” on his jersey. But if he’s not the captain, who is?
The answer is blowin’ in the wind
“So far, nobody,” St. James says, noting that one player stands out as a possible successor to Larkin.
“Moritz Seider has all the makings of being the next captain,” she says. Seider is a defenseman and captained Germany’s national men’s team in the 2026 Winter Olympics. For now, he and forward Lucas Raymond will serve as alternate captains.
Whoever leads the team on the ice, owner Chris Ilitch must also find someone else to guide the ship off the ice. So far, he hasn’t been able to hire an experienced GM or assistant GM to succeed Yzerman. Two days before training camp began, Ilitch temporarily promoted player development director Shawn Horcoff to interim GM.
St. James says at this point, Horcoff might have the job for a while.
“It’s very unheard of than an assistant GM would leave his team in the middle of the season,” she says.
Whether anyone wants Yzerman’s old job remains to be seen. St. James says the Larkin situation has tarnished the image of an Original Six team that won four Stanley Cups between 1997 and 2008.
“It’s just hard to understand how such a proud franchise could have gotten to this point.”
The Red Wings open the season against the New York Rangers on Friday, Oct. 2 at Little Caesars Arena.
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