The truth about Dylan Larkin and Steve Yzerman may have just been revealed by Elliotte Friedman

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Vincent Carbonneau
June 7, 2026  (2:51 PM)

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Photo credit: Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Dylan Larkin just handed Todd McLellan a summer mess, and Steve Yzerman is not expected to cave fast.

That is the real weight behind Elliotte Friedman's latest read on Detroit. Larkin has asked for a trade, but Friedman also made it clear Yzerman is not the type to get pushed into a bad return.

That changes the feel of this story right away. A request is one thing. A request attached to a full no-trade clause and a stubborn front office is a different fight.

Friedman said Yzerman could simply refuse and tell Larkin to sit, even if he does not expect it to go that far. The louder point was this: Detroit's GM is not going to let anyone lowball him or bully him into a deal.

That fits the player involved. Larkin is not a distressed asset. He had 34 goals and 67 points in 74 games last season, and he still plays the kind of center game contenders line up for.

It also fits the market. Top-line centers do not hit the trade block often, and when they do, the bidding gets serious fast. Friedman wrote there is going to be a ton of interest once teams know where Larkin would actually go.

Detroit's side of the file is easy to understand, too. The Red Wings finished 41-31-10 and missed the playoffs again, which is exactly why the relationship got here in the first place.

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Larkin's contract does a lot of the work for him. He carries an $8.7 million average annual value through 2030-31, and his full no-trade clause stays in place for this season and next.

That means Yzerman does not need to move on somebody else's timeline. He can wait for the right hockey trade, the right futures package, or the right team that Larkin would actually approve.

The pressure is still real, though. Sportsnet reported there appears to be a frosty relationship between Larkin and the team's top hockey executive, and that kind of split does not disappear once it gets public.

McLellan now gets dragged into that tension, even if this is a front-office file first. Detroit's coach is trying to settle a room while the captain's future hangs over the bench.

That is why Friedman's wording matters. He did not paint Yzerman as closed off. He painted him as patient, hard to move, and fully aware of what a center like Larkin should bring back.

So this is not a panic sale. It is a standoff, and the draft feels like the point where it could really move.

Previously

Elliotte Friedman just dropped another major update on the failed Leafs-Canadiens blockbuster

This towering forward with multiple 30-goal seasons has unexpectedly become available: Alex Tuch

After a failed first attempt, Kent Hughes is closing in on a major trade

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