Dylan Larkin is still a Red Wing, and now there's a reason attached to it. Ownership wouldn't let Steve Yzerman make the deal.
Elliotte Friedman put it on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. Detroit wasn't willing to make a Larkin trade that wasn't for immediate help.
Yzerman had warned the club a deal probably wouldn't win in the short term. It would be longer term help, and Friedman doesn't think they liked hearing it.
Read that one more time. A general manager did the job, told his bosses the truth, and got overruled for the trouble.
It also isn't the first version of this story. Carlos Monarrez reported earlier in the offseason that Chris Ilitch struck down a free agency deal involving Steven Stamkos.
Stamkos then went out and scored 42 goals. That call aged about as well as you'd expect.
Ilitch told Bob Wojanowski he gives his sports leaders 100% autonomy and authority to make decisions as they see fit. From day one, he said.
-
Dylan Larkin trade was reportedly blocked by Red Wings ownership
Horcoff was formally announced this week. The Larkin file lands on his desk immediately, along with everything attached to it.
So what happens when an offer built on futures comes in? Nobody in that building can answer with a straight face right now.
The player at the centre of all this put up 67 points across 74 games last season. He isn't a salvage job.
Nine of those goals won games, and the deal carries an $8,700,000 cap hit. Real piece, priced like one.
He's also listed as day to day with an upper body issue and questionable for the start of the season. Try selling that in September.
Minnesota remains the likeliest landing spot. Yzerman reportedly asked for Matthew Boldy, and there's little chance the Wild go anywhere near it.
Boldy put up 85 points and a +18 last season. Nobody hands that over for a 30-year-old who already asked out.
The Red Wings finished 41-31-10 for 92 points and sixth in the Atlantic. Good enough to be stuck, never good enough to scare anybody.
The close was rough. Three straight losses to finish, including an 8-1 night in Florida.
Todd McLellan has run that bench since December 2024. He opens camp with every bit of this sitting in his room.
So who actually runs hockey operations in Detroit? Handing a man the title while keeping the keys is like giving someone a car with no engine in it.
Horcoff gets his first real test the moment a phone rings. Whether the answer comes from his office or from somewhere above it is the part nobody in that fan base trusts yet.
Should Chris Ilitch stay out of Shawn Horcoff's trade decisions?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Matthew Tkachuk sends blunt warning to Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic
