Dylan Larkin heard it from his own crowd Friday night, as Detroit Red Wings fans booed the Waterford native on home ice.
Todd McLellan didn't dodge it afterward. The Red Wings head coach tied the reaction straight to one thing: his center asking out of Detroit.
"Obviously he's got to live with the ramifications of asking for a trade," McLellan said. "It's not comfortable for anybody, I feel bad for him. I do."
McLellan also said the 30-year-old wanted to be out there for the ceremony as part of the team. The crowd answered anyway.
And the night didn't get any better once the puck dropped. Detroit was held scoreless in a 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers to open the season.
John Gibson did his part with a .950 save percentage. The core in front of him didn't, with Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider each going minus-1.
Shawn Horcoff's trade standoff is now a home crowd problem
The money makes this messy. Larkin carries an $8,700,000 cap hit that runs through 2030-31, more than Seider's $8,550,000.
That's a lot of term for any acquiring team to swallow. And Shawn Horcoff still has to get real value back for a homegrown pick taken 15th overall in 2014.
Production won't scare anyone off. He scored 34 goals and 67 points in 74 games last season, following a 70-point campaign the year before.
Over his NHL career, he sits at 643 points in 808 games. Every one of them in a Red Wings sweater.
Right now this feels like a breakup where both people still share the apartment. Everybody stays polite in the hallway. Nobody sleeps well.
Here's where I land. Letting this drag deep into October, with the building already turning on him, is the worst outcome for everyone involved.
How long can a locker room pretend this is normal?
The Wings stay home Sunday afternoon against Winnipeg, then host Ottawa and Seattle before a Saturday trip to Montreal.
That's three more nights in front of the same fans. If the boos come back Sunday, the heat shifts from the player to the front office.
Detroit already sits 26th overall after one game. Small sample, sure. But the next move belongs to Horcoff, and the building has made its feelings loud and clear.
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Were Red Wings fans right to boo Dylan Larkin after his trade request?
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Dylan Larkin gets booed by entire Red Wings arena and walks off the bench
