Dylan Larkin faced the media at Detroit Red Wings training camp last week for the first time since requesting a trade in June. The reaction since has not been kind.
Larkin declined to explain why he asked out, calling the reasons personal and saying he wasn’t ready to discuss them – and might never be. He accepted the decision to strip him of the captaincy, said the request had nothing to do with his teammates, and said he wanted to earn their trust back on the ice. What he didn’t do was answer the central question, and that’s what the criticism has focused on.
Dylan Larkin slammed
Toronto broadcaster Sid Seixeiro had spent weeks arguing the Montreal Canadiens should trade for Larkin as their second-line center. After watching the press conference, he dropped the idea entirely.
“That performance yesterday was cowardly and childish. I was wrong. This is not the guy Montreal needs,” Seixeiro said on his show. “That was sad. That was actually really sad from Dylan Larkin yesterday. I felt sorry for him, but I think we learned a lot from Dylan Larkin yesterday.”
He then went further, lumping Larkin in with another player currently refusing to report to his team.
“In terms of the National Hockey League, Connor Hellebuyck and Dylan Larkin are not taking you to a Stanley Cup because they don’t have it,” Seixeiro said. “I think there’s now mounting evidence to suggest that for both players. I don’t think I’m being mean. I think I’m being accurate.”
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The criticism hasn’t come from one corner only. Writer Sean Shapiro published a piece under the headline “Dylan Larkin Can’t Have It Both Ways,” describing the press conference as cowardice and pointing out that Larkin said he wanted to be truthful and offer an explanation, then gave none at all.
Larkin is 30 and has five seasons left on the eight-year, $69.6 million contract he signed in 2023. He is currently dealing with an upper-body injury picked up while training in the gym, and Detroit will open the season without a captain.
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