Dylan Larkin met with the media on the opening day of Detroit Red Wings Training Camp.
While the Detroit Red Wings officially opened Training Camp in preparation for the 2026-27 NHL campaign, Dylan Larkin was not on the ice.
Larkin, who requested a trade earlier in the summer, is unable to skate after sustaining an upper-body injury during a recent off-ice training session.
However, Larkin held his first media session since the end of last season. Sitting alongside new Red Wings interim general manager Shawn Horcoff, Larkin was asked immediately about his trade request and if it's still in force.
Larkin made it clear that his decision to request a trade was not something that was "spur of the moment", while also acknowledging that he's not yet ready to reveal the personal reasons behind it - and may never be.
“There’s a lot there, a lot of personal stuff," he said. "To be honest, and I'm going to try and be honest - I’m not ready to go there yet.
“I understand that there are answers that fans and people who care about this organization around the world want to know, but I’m really not ready to go there - and it’s maybe something that I’ll never be," he continued. "It wasn’t easy to get to that decision; it was very hard. It wasn’t spur-of-the-moment; I don’t take what I did lightly.”
There have been reports in recent months that Larkin's communication level with now-former general manager Steve Yzerman was sporadic, and that their relationship may have been damaged after he publicly lamented the lack of meaningful moves at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.
While Larkin didn't specifically answer what his communication level with Yzerman was over the last two seasons, he made it clear that he has nothing but respect for Detroit's legendary icon, and that having differences is part of being in professional sports.
"I have nothing but respect for Steve," he said. "I think as, I've said before, I'm a player on this team, and he (was) the general manager, and I respect that. When it's game night, we go out and play, and he watches and evaluates."
In any organization, competitive people are going to have differences, and I think that's what makes him great," he continued. "He's a competitive person, and he pushes for success, and I respect that a ton. I learned a ton from him in terms of leadership.
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Larkin was a rookie the last time the Red Wings made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2016, and to date, Detroit's five postseason games that year against the Tampa Bay Lightning are the only postseason games he's played in his career.
Meanwhile, Larkin enjoyed success on the international stage, playing a key role in Team USA's historic gold medal victory in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
While it would be understandable that part of Larkin's motivation for requesting a trade was so that he could more routinely taste that kind of success, he said the proximity of his gold medal win and the trade request were coincidental.
"The gold medal stuff has nothing to do with this," he said. "It was a coincidence, timing wise."
As of now, there is no specific timeline of when Larkin could potentially return to the ice.
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