“It’s good for [Larkin] to get it over with, it’s good for us to get it over with,” McLellan stated during a press conference. “I said this the other day, like, enough of this alrady. Let’s just go play hockey. Moral victories only take you so far. So to finally get a chance at getting the carrot was important for us.“

McLellan, who had also revealed the Red Wings’ players’ stance on Larkin’s return, was glad the day finally came at Little Caesars Arena. Fans got to get some frustration out of their system, while Larkin, who was given a clean slate by McLellan and the Wings, scored and played a big role in his team’s first win of the 2026-27 NHL campaign.

Larkin accepts fans’ reaction

It feels like ages ago, but it really wasn’t that long ago when Larkin urged Red Wings fans to reconsider before booing him. After his brief stint on Injured Reserve (IR), Larkin finally made his season debut in Motor City, and the jeering was as expected. Even Larkin knew it was coming—especially Larkin. Far from hiding, he’s made his stance clear, turning the other cheek and acknowledging the fans’ reasons to be upset.

“I mean, I was ready for [the booing] on the home opener and you know it’s a part of it. I’m trying to be a man and face it, and I understand why that’s happening,” Larkin admitted during his press conference after his season debut. “But, again, like I said at the start of the season, I was going to try and show up with my play. It was nice to be out there with the guys and get a win.”

More to come for Larkin

Larkin has passed his first test on home ice in the 2026-27 NHL season. If he thinks it was the only one, though, he’s in for a surprise. Larkin will face the wrath of the fanbase, as well as a bit of warmth if things go well, every game at Little Caesars Arena. His next battle will be on Oct. 10, when the Seattle Kraken come into town.

Key takeaways

• Todd McLellan welcomed Dylan Larkin’s season debut to get their campaign back on track.
• Dylan Larkin scored in the Detroit Red Wings’ first win of the 2026-27 season.
• Detroit faces the Seattle Kraken at Little Caesars Arena on Oct. 10.

“I can tell you on the bench his teammates were rallying around him. They believe we’re a better team with him than without him, and the rest of the group was happy for him, so it was a team win, and Dylan did what Dylan needed to do,” McLellan said once the game concluded.

The hostility toward Larkin clearly came from only part of the crowd, while the team has supported his return despite what happened weeks ago. There is no doubt that his return makes the Red Wings stronger as they look to become contenders.

The Larkin-Red Wings saga

What started as a storybook hometown hero narrative spiraled into absolute chaos when Dylan Larkin dropped a bombshell trade request over the summer, citing frustration with the franchise’s endless rebuilding phase. Things got even messier when he reportedly weaponized his no-trade clause to try to force a move to a tiny list of contenders, leading the front office to strip him of his captain’s ‘C’ while fans showered their former darling with heavy boos at LCA.

Though he suited up for his 2026 debut and dropped a 2-point performance to beat Ottawa, the underlying tension between the player, the fanbase, and the organization remains an unresolved soap opera hanging over Detroit’s entire season.

McLellan bets on Larkin

Despite all the noise surrounding the off-ice drama, Todd McLellan seems more than willing to keep Larkin front and center as the driving engine of Detroit’s attack this season. McLellan knows you don’t bench elite talent when wins are on the line, and after seeing how Larkin “played with his heart on his sleeve” in his debut against Ottawa, it’s clear the bench boss respects his pure competitive drive and eagerness to be out there making things happen.

If Larkin keeps putting up multi-point performances and grinding through every shift, McLellan will have no hesitation leaning heavily on him as his go-to top-line center, regardless of any underlying front-office friction.

Key takeaways

• Todd McLellan stated Detroit Red Wings players fully supported Dylan Larkin’s return.
• Dylan Larkin requested a trade over the summer due to frustration with the rebuild.
• The Red Wings stripped Dylan Larkin of his captaincy following his offseason request.

Red Wings fans booed Larkin when he was introduced in the 2026-27 NHL season home opener, one can only imagine the hostility inside Little Caesars Arena in his first shift back on home ice. McLellan is leaving Larkin’s status up in the air, but there’s a very real possibility he is on Detroit’s lineup against Ottawa.

“[Larkin has] got one more hurdle to cross. He’s still on IR, so the doctor will look at him here, and if he’s cleared, he’s playing. And if he isn’t, then he won’t,” Todd McLellan said after the Red Wings’ morning skate on Tuesday, via Helene St. James of Detroit Free Press.

Red Wings need Larkin

With Larkin’s trade likely stalling as the Florida Panthers may avoid a worst-case scenario with Aleksander Barkov, the Red Wings know better than to simply keep Larkin away from the ice out of pettiness. If he can play, they will dress him.

Larkin may have burned his bridges in Detroit, but he’s still a valuable weapon for the team. The Red Wings are winless through their first two games and have yet to hold a lead, so it’s not as if things could go much worse. Or at least that’s what Detroit wants to believe.

Larkin could join the power play

As much stuff as there will be on Larkin’s plate, McLellan isn’t taking anything off of it. In his first game back, Larkin could pick up right where he left off, playing big minutes for a Red Wings side that desperately needs a spark. According to reports, Larkin got some looks on the team’s power play during his latest practice session.

In the midst of the trade request drama and with Larkin injured, McLellan and his staff had left Larkin off the power play during practice, though they did use him on the penalty kill. As Larkin gears up for his return to NHL action, it looks like the team is holding no grudge against him, or at least isn’t showing it with his special teams assignments. Larkin’s absence has cost the Red Wings, and it was made evident as McLellan bashed the special teams’ groups.

Red Wings struggle on special teams

The best players have to play, even those who are actively pushing to leave the organization. And that’s why Larkin could be back in full capacity, playing minutes both on the man advantage and penalty kill. For as long as Larkin is under contract in Detroit, it might stay that way.

Even the angriest fans in Motor City will agree the special teams need help. So far, the Red Wings have some of the worst PP and PK percentages in the NHL, operating at 14.3% and 50%, respectively.

Key takeaways

• Head coach Todd McLellan said Dylan Larkin could play after missing two games.
• Detroit fans booed their captain during player introductions at the home opener.
• The Red Wings are winless through their first two games of the season.

The Red Wings couldn’t get the better of the Jets in a game where both sides were missing their trade-requesting American Olympic gold medalists, as neither Hellebuyck nor Larkin played. After the loss, in which all of Winnipeg’s goals were scored on the power play, McLellan pulled no punches about the team’s PK amid a head-scratching start to the NHL campaign.

“Well, the penalty kill failed us,” McLellan said after the 3-2 Jets loss, via Detroit Free Press. “And the penalty, unsportsmanlike conduct, right after we get scored on, bang, they’re up two-nothing. We can’t allow that, pretty simple. But the penalty kill let us down. First one was a lucky one, second one was a penalty that we didn’t need to take, third one was off a rebound. We’ll keep working on that, try and fix it.“

Larkin could’ve helped PK

Although McLellan admitted he felt bad for Larkin after the home opener at Little Caesars Arena, in which fans gave the former captain a taste of the season-long hostility, he had previously lashed out at Larkin with a blunt statement.

Despite the current love-hate relationship between head coach and disgruntled forward, McLellan is well aware of the impact Larkin could have on special teams, especially on the penalty kill. With Larkin—conveniently—sidelined and on IR with an upper-body injury, the Red Wings are missing his two-way impact to start the 2026-27 NHL season.

It’s unclear if they will ever have Larkin on the ice this season, as his trade out of Detroit could finally occur, meaning Larkin might be shipped away before he even makes his season debut. What’s clear is that if Larkin is back at some point, the current roster will welcome him back to the penalty kill, on which Detroit is off to a terrible start. It’s very early, but the Red Wings have the second-worst PK in the NHL, operating at a 50% success rate.

Red Wings fans won’t admit they need Larkin

Though Larkin was punished and taken off the power play during the team practices he actually participated in coming into the season, he was still used in short-handed situations, and it’s now clear the Red Wings are missing him on the ice when a player is off and in the penalty box.

No fan in Motor City will admit that, though, and many may actually be on board with the team struggling to kill off penalties as long as it means one-upping Larkin in the pettiness department.

Key takeaways

• Dylan Larkin placed on IR as Red Wings lose first two games of season.
• Detroit lost 3-2 to Winnipeg Jets after all opponents’ goals occurred on power play.
• Penalty kill operates at 50% success rate, ranking second-worst in the NHL.

“Dylan, today, being a part of the team, he wanted to be out there for the ceremony… Dylan’s explanation was, ‘I don’t want the rest of my teammates, the ones that aren’t dressed, to not be out there,'” McLellan said after his team’s loss. “So, we went out as a team.”

The ongoing saga between the team’s biggest star and the Red Wings did not sit well with the fans at all. As a result, the boos were clearly heard: “Obviously, he’s got to live with the ramifications of asking for a trade. It’s not comfortable for anybody. I feel bad for him, I do,” McLellan also added.

What sparked the fans’ reaction in Detroit?

Dylan Larkin created a massive storm in Detroit after making a public trade request over the offseason, frustrating a fan base that once revered him as their hometown hero and team captain. Red Wings fans felt betrayed that the Michigan native wanted out after signing a long-term eight-year extension, leading the front office to strip him of his captaincy prior to the season.

The tension boiled over during the 2026-27 home opener against the Rangers at Little Caesars Arena, where Larkin—who was sidelined with an upper-body injury—was loudly booed by the crowd during pregame player introductions, prompting him to walk straight back to the locker room.

A false start for the Red Wings

Detroit’s opening night turned into a frustrating night at home, getting shut out 2-0 by the New York. Despite matching the Rangers in physical energy and slightly outshooting them 22-21, the Red Wings couldn’t get anything past Rangers netminder Dylan Garand, who stopped all 22 shots for his first NHL career shutout.

Detroit’s defense held up decently—John Gibson made 19 saves on 20 shots faced—but a first-period goal by Sean Durzi and a late empty-netter from Eeli Tolvanen sealed the loss. Between Dylan Larkin being out, plus going 0-for-2 on power plays, it was just a completely flat, forgettable start for the Wings.

Key takeaways

• Todd McLellan expressed regret after fans booed his player during opening night.
• Detroit fans reacted angrily following a public offseason trade request.
• The team suffered a 2-0 shut out loss against New York.

“We’re the Detroit Red Wings, and that means something. We are an Original Six team, we have a lot of stuff going on around us, but we’re still the Detroit Red Wings. And if it doesn’t mean anything to me, or to the players in the locker room, or the trainers, or anyone else in the organization, then shame on them. They shouldn’t be part of it,” McLellan stated during a press conference ahead of the 2026-27 home opener.

McLellan didn’t name-drop Larkin per se, but he really didn’t need to. There was only one player on everyone’s mind as McLellan dropped his ultimatum ahead of the 2026-27 NHL campaign, and that was the 30-year-old center born, raised, and developed in Michigan, who has asked for a trade out of his hometown club. Nothing has been the same for the Wings since, and the frustration was made clear as fans gave Larkin a taste of the hostility by booing him during the home opener.

Perhaps McLellan not-so-subtly calling out Larkin signals that the end of the trade request saga is near. Reports indicate Larkin’s trade out of the Red Wings may finally occur as the Florida Panthers face injury concerns, and they might need to acquire a top-six center soon.

McLellan’s message may be foreshadowing

The timing of McLellan’s statement definitely raises eyebrows and question marks. As much as there already is to his blunt message, there may be even more behind it. As things stand, Larkin isn’t playing for the Red Wings against the New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets, as he is sidelined with a, at the very least, suspicious upper-body injury.

According to reports from media members at team practice, Larkin has participated with no limitations, suggesting he may not really need to be sidelined. “We’re not putting our heads in the sand pretending some of these issues don’t exist,” McLellan said, via Joel Sebastianelli. “We’re dealing with them, and once we deal with them especially internally that will give us a chance.”

Considering the Red Wings will announce their 2026-27 NHL season roster to the fans at Little Caesars Arena for the home opener, it’s quite suggestive that Larkin will happen miss that game. Whether he will be introduced as a member of the team or not is a different story, yet an uncertain one, too.

Potential movement in Larkin’s trade rumors

The fact that McLellan finally called out Larkin for giving up on the team that drafted him and named him captain with hours to go before the season starts appears to be a sign. Something might be happening behind closed doors.

Making trades isn’t part of McLellan’s job description as head coach. However, his message might be a way of giving the front office the green light to move on from Larkin. Coming into the season, Larkin didn’t participate much in training camp, he isn’t on the team’s power-play units, and he doesn’t appear to have his head in Detroit anymore. By all accounts, it looks like the Winged Wheel has gone through its grieving process, has seen what its life would be like without Larkin, and is okay with it. All that remains is finding a suitable offer.

Until now, McLellan had kept his comments on Larkin brief and certainly not as judgmental as this last one was. What changed? Only time will tell. As for Larkin’s time with Detroit, the two sides might be entering their final hours together.

Key takeaways

• Head coach Todd McLellan called out players amid Dylan Larkin’s trade request.
• Detroit’s 30-year-old former captain requested a trade after the 2025-26 NHL season.
• Panthers are considered a potential trade destination due to injury concerns.

“Per McLellan, Dylan Larkin (upper body) unavailable for Thursday Red Wings preseason game, there may be a chance he’ll be available for finale, Saturday,” as reported by Helene St. James of Detroit Free Press on X.

The fact that McLellan is still considering Larkin for Saturday’s preseason finale should indicate progress in his recovery from an upper-body injury. On Wednesday, Larkin joined the Red Wings for his first team practice in a long time. Indeed, he may be back soon. If not on Saturday, it’s reasonable to believe Larkin would be back for the season home opener on Oct. 2 against the New York Rangers.

Whether he plays on Saturday, Sept. 26 against the Columbus Blue Jackets or ends up missing both home preseason games, Larkin won’t be sidelined forever. Sooner or later, Larkin will have to come face-to-face with the annoyed fanbase in Motor City.

Hostile reception awaits Larkin

Larkin urged the fans to reconsider before booing him, but it sure feels like they will pay no heed to the former captain’s wish. If it’s inevitable, it might be best for Larkin to get the first painful experience over with during the preseason, when attendance numbers are nothing to write home about.

Make no mistake, one jeering crowd in the preseason won’t be the end of it, but it will give Larkin a taste of what awaits him in his first official home game of the 2026-27 NHL season. Still, there may be no way to prepare for such an experience.

For the time being, Larkin is still considered injured, so he has other, bigger fish to fry before fretting about the reception he’ll get at Little Caesars Arena.

Key takeaways

• Saturday preseason finale: Dylan Larkin may return for Detroit’s final tune-up game against Columbus.
• Oct. 2 home opener: The Detroit Red Wings open their regular season against the Rangers.
• First team practice: The forward recently rejoined his teammates after recovering from an upper-body injury.

Shortly after Larkin admitted he had no regrets about requesting a trade out of Detroit during his first press conference since the end of the 2025-26 NHL season, McLellan voiced a statement of his own. Though McLellan admitted he and the Red Wings will still welcome the former captain, he dropped a subtle warning reminding Larkin of his obligations.

“Who wouldn’t want Dylan Larkin on their team? He made a commitment to the team signing a contract,” McLellan said, via Helene St. James of Detroit Free Press. “We made a commitment to him to provide an opportunity to play and that’s where we’re at right now.”

McLellan reminds Larkin he’s under contract

Although the timing of Larkin’s recent injury raised eyebrows ahead of training camp, the former Red Wings captain made his intentions clear: to be with the team during the NHL preseason. Regardless, just in case, McLellan made sure to remind Larkin that he made a commitment to Detroit and must stick to it.

For the time being, the 30-year-old homegrown center is holding up his end of the bargain. Though not healthy enough to participate, Larkin did report to Day 1 of training camp. Larkin would have been subject to a team suspension otherwise, like Connor Hellebuyck was after he failed to report to the Winnipeg Jets’ training camp. Curiously enough, both were teammates on Team USA’s gold-medal Olympic team. Still, Larkin said that experience had nothing to do with his desire to leave the Red Wings.

In the meantime, fans remain wary of Larkin’s untimely—or timely—setback. If Larkin is indeed using it as a thinly veiled way to avoid participating in team activities, it could backfire tremendously. Larkin did urge Red Wings fans to reconsider before booing him on home ice, but at some point, Larkin will have to face the music. And it’s trending toward an ugly melody. As for how McLellan and his teammates will treat Larkin, he may have no reason to fret.

McLellan will use Larkin for as long as he has him

Whether he’s upset at Larkin for the troublesome spotlight he’s brought upon the Red Wings or not remains unknown. What’s clear, though, is that McLellan still sees the great qualities in Larkin’s game. As long as he’s available to the head coach, McLellan will utilize Larkin in a big role. That was all but confirmed when McLellan stated: “Who wouldn’t want Dylan Larkin on their team?”

McLellan plans to play Larkin as long as he is still around Motor City. Whether Larkin actually is fit to play, though, that’s a different question. As things stand, it’s the million-dollar question in town, along with whether the trade request is still standing or not. After Larkin’s press conference, neither has been answered, and nobody knows when Larkin will become available to the media again.

“Yes, I think we all should be [embarrassed],” McLellan admitted, dropping a truth bomb in his final postgame availability of the season, via reporter Helene St. James. “Both teams came in with nothing on the line, and you could see the [Panthers’] championship pedigree. I’m going to compliment them, it runs through the organization. They played and it meant something to them.“

Hadn’t McLellan held back, he would’ve gone ballistic on the Red Wings. Detroit missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 10th straight season. The Red Wings now hold the longest active playoff drought in the NHL. What was once a promising-looking campaign ended with the Wings losing eight of their last 10 games of the season.

Red Wings spiraled out of control

Down the stretch, Detroit went 8–12–4 since the Olympic break, erasing all the progress and success it had enjoyed prior to the hiatus. Needless to say, McLellan was livid to see his team throw everything away.

What stung the most was the fact that they showed little to no urgency in their final games. Allowing eight goals against Florida‘s B-squad is a terrible note for Detroit to end the season on.

Florida played with AHL-filled squad

Conceding eight goals is never fun nor justified in the NHL. However, the fact that the Panthers played an alternative lineup—due to injuries depleting their roster—makes the Red Wings’ 8–1 defeat in Sunrise unfathomable.

Florida had 15 different skaters record points. Aside from Matthew Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen, none of the point-scorers had played in last season’s Stanley Cup Final. Thus, the Cats steamrolled the Red Wings with a squad that is nowhere near their standard.

This was a fluke year for Florida, but it will be back next season. The question is: will Detroit? Will McLellan make it through the summer in the Motor City? Or will he be the first casualty of the Detroit Spring?

Dylan Larkin blamed himself after the Red Wings missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again, but the rest of the team is still grieving such a heartbreaking end to the season. Still, who’s to blame matters little to fans in Detroit. They want to see a winning team for once, and McLellan’s side has come up short on that promise. Now, the Red Wings must face the music and stand up for their actions. Even McLellan believes so.

“This is Detroit. This is Hockeytown. I’ve been lucky enough to be on the other side of it when they couldn’t stop cheering for this team, and they’re dying for that. They crave that. That’s what they want,” McLellan stated, via NHL.com.

“And I don’t even know if they want a Stanley Cup championship anymore. They just want a team that’s going to come and give them something to cheer about. [The boos are] what we earned.”

The bar is lower for the Red Wings

McLellan was an assistant coach back in the 2007–08 season when the Red Wings last hoisted a Stanley Cup. At the time, Detroit had made the Stanley Cup Playoffs every year since 1991 and would go on to make them every season until 2016. With 11 Stanley Cups in their trophy case and 25 straight postseason appearances, the Red Wings never saw this coming. They haven’t made the playoffs since and now hold the NHL‘s longest active playoff drought.

Back in the glory days, it was championship or bust for Detroit. Now, the expectation has gone down exponentially. Fans just want to see them make the postseason. Detroit can take it from there, but it must first snap its 10-year drought—the longest in franchise history. Even though the bar is set much lower for these Red Wings compared to other teams throughout the years, they can’t clear it.

The Red Wings must undergo changes

Simply put, Detroit comes up short time and again, and that only leads to more frustration. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the nadir of Red Wings history. Patience is running low in Hockeytown; the boos in the last homestand of the season prove just that, and changes must be made in Motor City. Detroit isn’t exactly known for its fashion sense. In the 313, everything old might not be new again after all.

As McLellan blamed Kane for the costly loss in Detroit, Kane knew he couldn’t turn a blind eye or act as if nothing had happened. Now, the American star has bitten the bullet, admitting his responsibility for the mistake that could put the Red Wings out of contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“Maybe the worst I felt personally in my career. A lapse in judgement for sure,” Kane commented on his mistake against the Wild, via Detroit Free Press. “Obviously, didn’t mean to do that or take a penalty at that point in the game. Nonetheless, I take responsibility for what happened there.”

Red Wings must turn it around

Detroit has lost four of its last five games in the 2025–26 NHL season. Up next, the Red Wings will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets—the only team in the Eastern Conference playoff race with worse form than Detroit right now. As the Blue Jackets walk into Little Caesars Arena in the 313, they arrive mired in a six-game losing streak.

Still, the Red Wings can’t take them for granted. It’s not like they have looked much better in recent outings. Detroit has lost four straight at home. Its last victory in Motor City was on March 19 (3–1 vs. the Montreal Canadiens).

Playoff stakes at an all-time high

The Red Wings and Blue Jackets are tied in points (88) with the same number of games played (77), so their upcoming bout in Detroit will have all the ingredients of a playoff matchup. The winner could catch fire at the right time, while the loser may just go ahead and wave goodbye to the postseason.

The Red Wings must do everything in their power to avoid being on the wrong side of that equation. If they miss the playoffs for the 10th straight NHL season, fans in Michigan won’t take it lightly, and big changes may be on the horizon within the organization. In more ways than one, April 7’s game against Columbus has the feel of a win-or-go-home showdown.

Detroit’s last 5 games of 2025-26 NHL season