Detroit Red Wings interim general manager explained that not only did Dylan Larkin sustain an upper-body injury during a recent training session, but also that discussions involving his trade request will remain under wraps.
On the eve of Training Camp for the 2026-27 NHL season, Detroit Red Wings interim general manager Shawn Horcoff held an introductory press conference at Little Caesars Arena.
Not surprisingly, the very first question that came his way was about the status of forward Dylan Larkin, who not only requested a trade earlier in the summer but will also no longer function as the team's captain.
Days ago, both the Red Wings and Larkin released brief statements about the ongoing situation; Horcoff immediately referred back to those statements, saying that he preferred to keep the conversations they've had with him private.
“With Dylan, I think we've kind of released a statement on that, and I think it's important for us to keep that private and in-house," Horcoff said.
In their statement on Friday morning last week, the Red Wings indicated that Larkin will report to Training Camp and that the club will not have a captain to begin the season.
"The Red Wings will begin the 2026-27 without a captain being named," the statement read. "Any further discussions or decisions regarding this topic will be made once new hockey operations leadership is in place."
"Dylan is under contract as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. Any conversations regarding his future with the Club will take place privately when a new hockey operations leader has been named. As such, we will not comment any further on this matter."
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However, Horcoff's provided another update on Larkin from a health standpoint, indicating that he recently suffered an off-ice upper-body injury during a training session, and that while he'll report to Red Wings Training Camp, he won't be on the ice.
“But one thing I want to touch on Dylan, is that he sustained an injury earlier this week," Horcoff said. "He's been seen by our doctors; he's going to be at Training Camp with the team rehabbing, but he won't be on the ice participating.
It's going to take him a little bit of time to get back from it. When we have a better timeline of when he will be back and available, we'll let everybody know."
When asked if the club expects Larkin to participate on the ice at any point during Training Camp, Horcoff said that is the team's hope.
“We hope so," he said. "I think right now he's not, but at some point, when he starts feeling better, of course we'll integrate him into on-ice sessions, and he'll be back skating with the team. But there's no timeline for that right now."
Horcoff then reiterated that, while he understands Larkin's trade request is a topic of significant interest among fans and the media, the discussions between the former captain and the club regarding his request will stay under wraps.
“I understand that it's a massive area of interest for not just (media) but for the fans," he said. "But again, I want to reiterate we're going to keep those conversations private between Dylan and the organization. There was a lot that kind of went into that, and we've had good discussions with Dylan."
"We're happy that he's here at Camp, and he has the full support of us. We look forward to having him healthy and back out on the ice.”
Larkin, who was named the club's 37th captain in 2021, is coming off his fifth straight season of scoring at least 30 goals.
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