Dylan Larkin was out in battle drills on Wednesday, and Ansar Khan reported it was the first practice he's had all camp.
No word yet on whether he'll be ready for either of the final two preseason games, Khan wrote.
Probably not, was his read on it. This was the first one.
That's a player working his way back, not a player being cleared for anything.
He came into camp listed as day to day with an upper body issue and questionable for the start of the season.
Detroit needs him upright. He put up 67 points across 74 games last season on an $8,700,000 cap hit.
He also had 9 points in his final five games. Nothing in that production looked like a man fading out.
Major Dylan Larkin update drops as Red Wings trade drama continues
The request hasn't moved an inch. Nobody has walked it back since it landed.
His list runs four teams deep. Florida, Vegas, Minnesota and Dallas.
Montreal isn't on it, which hasn't stopped that market from talking itself into something anyway.
Elliotte Friedman reported ownership refused a deal that wasn't built on immediate help. Steve Yzerman got overruled on it.
Horcoff took the interim general manager job and inherited every bit of that.
His figure also came off the photo display at Little Caesars Arena. Nobody in that building has explained that one.
Detroit put six players on waivers Tuesday, more than any other club in the league.
They beat Pittsburgh 7-4 on the road the same night and host Buffalo tonight.
Todd McLellan sits 1-0-1 through the exhibition schedule and still doesn't know when he gets his centre back.
Every day of this makes the trade harder to build. Nobody pays full price for a player they haven't watched skate.
So what does one practice actually tell anybody? Judging a player's shape off a single session back works like grading a runner on the first mile of a marathon.
The calendar is the real problem here. Detroit opens soon, the request is still live, and the man in the middle of it just got on the ice for the first time.
Should the Red Wings trade Dylan Larkin before he plays a game?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
34 players placed on NHL waivers on Wednesday including 6 goaltenders
