Dylan Larkin’s Detroit Red Wings teammates were opting not to throw their former captain under the bus when he elected to walk out on the team last week.
“It’s his decision,” Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat said. “We’re happy with the guys who are here. We’re confident in our group here, so we’re ready to move forward.”
Red Wings lines tonight: projected lineup and starting goalie →
Moritz Seider summed up the way the Red Wings won 4-1 on the same day Dylan Larkin made his exit final.
“It meant a little more. I think it came down to that this is our squad and we got a really good group in here,” he said. pic.twitter.com/cEuL4OdhgE
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) October 30, 2026
Elsewhere inside NHL dressing rooms, Larkin is not getting away with his decision without getting a dressing-down from his peers.
Late last week, Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov added his name to the growing chorus of elite NHL players who are demanding a trade. There’s been an attempt to connect the dots between Kucherov’s request and that of Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck. The netminder was recently dealt from the Winnipeg Jets to the New Jersey Devils after also demanding a deal.
However, Kucherov’s Tampa Bay teammates were quick to point out a caveat between Kucherov and his trade-demanding contemporaries. Kucherov is in the final year of his long-term deal with the Lightning. He is honoring his commitment to the team and will be a UFA at season’s end.
Hellebuyck was just two years into an eight-year pact he signed with the Jets. Larkin was about halfway through the eight-year contract he received from Detroit.
Kucherov is also still suiting up and playing for Tampa Bay while awaiting to see if his request will be met. Hellebuyck didn’t report to the Jets this season. Larkin did report, but left last week when it was his determination that the Red Wings weren’t meeting his trade demands with the utmost urgency.
NHLers Took Notice of Actions of Red Wings’ Larkin
All of this did not go unnoticed by Larkin’s contemporaries.
“I know he’s the type of guy who’s going to just continue to come out and play as hard as he can for this team, because he does care about us,” Lightning forward Brandon Hagel told the Tampa Bay Times about Kucherov.
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel took a shot at Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck when talking about Nikita Kucherov s trade request.
“Listen, Kuch is a good friend, a good teammate. He loves this city… It’s not like he committed here for eight-years and asked out… pic.twitter.com/WOkAByZJJe
— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) November 2, 2026
“It’s not like he committed here for eight years and then asked out, two years into it. He didn’t quit on us. He doesn’t give up on us.”
Bob Duff has worked in the sports media industry since 1984 and covered the Red Wings since 1988. As … More about Bob Duff