The Detroit Red Wings have another wrinkle to deal with in the ongoing Dylan Larkin trade rumors, but his opening-week injury may actually give Detroit more reason to be patient rather than rush into a blockbuster.
Head coach Todd McLellan confirmed Thursday that Larkin will miss Detroit’s first two games of the 2026-27 season because of an upper-body injury. Larkin missed the entire preseason, and the Red Wings are hoping he can return for their third game against the Ottawa Senators.
Under normal circumstances, losing your No. 1 center before opening night would be the entire story. With Larkin, it is impossible to separate the injury from the much bigger question hanging over Detroit: when, or if, will the Red Wings trade him?
Larkin requested a trade following last season and confirmed at training camp that the request was real. He is also entering the season without the captaincy after wearing the “C” for six seasons. Interim general manager Shawn Horcoff has deliberately avoided placing a deadline on the situation, saying Detroit would take things “day by day.”
My read: the injury does not make a Dylan Larkin trade more urgent. It makes patience even more valuable.
Why Dylan Larkin’s Injury Matters to the Detroit Red Wings Trade Timeline
If Larkin is genuinely close to returning, as Detroit currently hopes, there is little reason for Horcoff to negotiate from an artificial position of urgency.
The Red Wings do not appear to be approaching this season as a rebuilding club. Horcoff said in September that another rebuild was “out of the question” and maintained that Detroit believes it is close to ending its lengthy playoff drought.
That matters enormously.
If Detroit intended to tear the roster down, moving a 30-year-old center with a major contract could become a straightforward futures transaction. But if the Red Wings still intend to compete, a Larkin trade has to accomplish something more complicated: it has to protect Detroit’s present while improving its future.
That is why an opening-week injury should not dramatically reduce Larkin’s long-term trade value unless the medical situation turns out to be considerably more serious than currently reported.
Larkin is coming off a career-high 34 goals and finished the 2025-26 season with 67 points in 74 games. He had 70 points the previous season and 69 in just 68 games in 2023-24.
That is a remarkably stable three-year offensive profile.
Dylan Larkin: Three-Year Scoring Trend
NHLTradeRumor.com Data Snapshot — Larkin has remained a consistent first-line producer entering the 2026-27 season.
The Red Wings Don’t Need to Rush a Dylan Larkin Trade
There is another reason Detroit can remain patient: salary-cap pressure is not forcing its hand.
We currently list the Red Wings with approximately $16.94 million in current cap space, while Larkin carries an $8.7 million cap hit through 2030-31.
Using those figures, NHLTradeRumor.com’s simplified cap calculation shows how much flexibility Detroit could theoretically create if Larkin were eventually moved without retaining salary or taking a contract back.
Detroit Red Wings Salary-Cap Scenario
NHLTradeRumor.com proprietary calculation
The important takeaway is not that Detroit needs another $8.7 million in space. It clearly does not.
Instead, Larkin’s contract could be attractive to a contender because five years of control remain and his cap hit sits well below the increasingly expensive prices being paid for high-end NHL centers.
That gives Detroit another reason to avoid selling simply because the trade request exists.
Has Dylan Larkin’s Trade Market Expanded?
Potentially.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Sept. 25 that Larkin may now be willing to accept a trade to as many as eight teams. Friedman mentioned Colorado, Washington, Dallas and Tampa Bay among additional possibilities, though that should not be interpreted as confirmation that each club has made a trade offer or is actively negotiating with Detroit.
An expanded destination list would be meaningful because a restrictive no-trade clause can weaken the selling team’s leverage. More acceptable destinations potentially means more bidders. More bidders potentially means a stronger return.
But Detroit still controls the transaction.
Owner Chris Ilitch has publicly acknowledged that Larkin could remain with the Red Wings for the entire season.
From a negotiating standpoint, that may be Detroit’s strongest position: we do not have to trade him today.
NHLTradeRumor.com Trade Value Index
High-value veteran center with term, proven production and meaningful control over his destination.
Does the Injury Actually Change Detroit’s Blockbuster Plans?
For now, I see the injury changing tempo rather than direction.
If Larkin returns against Ottawa as Detroit hopes, this could become little more than an opening-week footnote. The Red Wings would get their top center back, opposing teams would get another opportunity to evaluate his health and Detroit could continue negotiating without desperation.
If the injury lingers, everything becomes more complicated. Interested teams would naturally want greater medical certainty before committing premium assets to a player signed through 2030-31.
But nothing reported so far suggests Detroit must immediately lower its expectations.
Larkin requested a trade. That earlier report has now effectively been confirmed by Larkin himself and by multiple members of the organization. What has not been confirmed is that a trade is imminent.
That difference is critical when separating NHL trade rumors from actual trade negotiations.
Detroit has cap flexibility. Larkin has long-term contract control. His production remains strong. His acceptable destination list reportedly may be growing. And the Red Wings have publicly indicated they are prepared to keep him if the right deal is not available.
That combination makes patience far more likely than panic.
The opening-week injury gives the Dylan Larkin story another twist, but unless his recovery timeline changes significantly, it should not force the Detroit Red Wings into making a blockbuster before they believe the return is right.
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