What just surfaced about Dylan Larkin doesn't paint a pretty picture

Dylan Larkin's trade request has not gone away, and the Detroit Red Wings are reportedly still willing to move their captain.

Word broke Thursday that this situation has been simmering for two months, according to a report from Helene St. James via OverDrive.

Larkin has actually been productive through all of it. He put up 34 goals and 33 assists for 67 points across 74 games this season.

Over his final 10 games of the year, he posted 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points, even while going minus-3 in that stretch.

None of that has smoothed anything over. Per the report, the organization is frustrated with him after paying down a chunk of his salary, 31 million over three years.

Larkin carries an $8,700,000 cap hit. That number alone complicates any deal for a Detroit front office trying to make this work.

Retaining money on a deal like that is the hockey version of putting a new engine in a car and then getting stuck explaining the price when you try to sell it.

Front office frustration collides with a captain who still produces

That tension is the actual story here. How do you move a 29 year old center who just delivered a 67 point season and nine game winning goals?

Head coach Todd McLellan ran Larkin out there all year, and the production says he's still a top six piece, not a problem on the ice.

Trading a captain who's still producing at this level, just to end a two month standoff, is a bad idea no matter how frustrated the front office claims to be.

The Red Wings finished 41-31-10 for 92 points, 16th overall, hardly the kind of season that makes moving your best forward an easy sell.

Whether Detroit finds a taker before camp opens, or Larkin ends up back in that locker room still wearing the C, is not settled yet.