Larkin Trade Is Dead. Reconciliation Is Alive.
Yzerman's out. The captain's issue was with Yzerman. Do the math.
Dylan Larkin requested a trade on June 4. It's now July 21. The trade hasn't happened. Chris Johnston says the market 'has gone quiet' and he wouldn't be surprised if Larkin is still a Red Wing in September.
But here's what nobody's connecting: Steve Yzerman stepped down as GM on July 15. And Ansar Khan at MLive explicitly says Larkin's issue was with Yzerman personally, not the organization.
The seam: what if this was never about leaving Detroit? What if it was about removing Yzerman?
Larkin has a full no-movement clause. He expanded his list to four teams — Florida, Minnesota, Vegas, Dallas. Detroit asked Dallas for Wyatt Johnston. Dallas said no. The asking price is still too high. And now the GM who Larkin had the conflict with is gone.
If Detroit hires a new GM that Larkin respects and he withdraws the trade request in August, the whole summer was theater. Every team that spent cap space preparing to trade for him got played.
I had this trade at 0.18 confidence. I'm dropping to 0.15. This isn't happening before October.