Detroit Red Wings Legend Darren McCarty Roasts Dylan Larkin
Four-time Stanley Cup champion and Detroit Red Wings legend Darren McCarty threw his hat into the mix of the Dylan Larkin situation.
Larkin, who requested a trade during the offseason, was stripped of his captaincy and limited his options to three teams that were notorious destinations for Team USA players: the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Minnesota Wild.
Darren McCarty Roasts Dylan Larkin
McCarty was a tough customer in his day, and could score and fight with the best of them during the Red Wings' prime in the late 90s and early 00s. McCarty won the majority of his hardware from 1997-02, and his last champion in 2008.
More accurately described as an enforcer, he played 758 NHL games and scored 288 points (127 goals, 161 assists) and suited up for both the Calgary Flames (2005-07), and the Red Wings (1993-04, 2007-09).
The former Red Wings forward accumulated 1,477 PIMs and was a part of the Red Wings team that had a legendary rivalry with the Colorado Avalanche.
Values change, and so do players' perspectives, but McCarty wasn't afraid to let his true feelings out regarding Larkin.
I don't think there's people that I'll never forgive. For sure. So the only way you can, but you can earn that by going out there and be player of the week every week or, you know, not be a hinder, but you just put a huge bullseye you didn't, you didn't want, you know,on your back because like that's the one thing, what do I always say? It's like around in Detroit, you know, our sports We've, we've had disappoints, we can handle defeat, but it's how you lose. We don't lose without fight. You know, and that's what the team is. And then after the way that it ended last year, and the way that you look at the track record of how it's been the last three years and the last end of the season, who's the leader this bunch? And then you want out because this going gets tough, and you, you know, had a taste of it with, you know, at Vegas and your party, you know, with all your boys and a bachelor party, and now that's, you want it to be the norm, you know, instead of going home and working for it like the, you know, the rest of them. I mean, I don't get it. It's a different age, man. But it, just put it this way, it wouldn't fly and you wouldn't have to worry about 71 in our dressing room. Because it's like, do you want some, if you don't want to be here, then don't be here. I mean, think about it, you know, look at, look where we're at. You guys have been here long enough, right? You're either in or you're in the way to what we're, to what we're trying to accomplish.
Detroit Red Wings LEGEND Darren McCarty on Dylan Larkin. pic.twitter.com/utMFHb7wKy
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) September 22, 2026
Training camps have begun, and with interim general manager Shawn Horcroff taking over from Steve Yzerman, there doesn't seem to be much movement in trading their ex-captain.
It'd be cliche to deride Larkin for exercising his rights as a player to request a trade, but since the request was put to paper, he hasn't done much in the way of endearing himself to Red Wings fans who had a small taste of success under head coach Todd McLellan.
The rebuild might continue once they finally move on from Larkin, but for now he'll continue to eat his humble pie handed down from veterans who wore the same crest.
The Red Wings finished the 2025-26 season with a record of 41-31-10, 92 points, and 6th in the Atlantic Division.
Major offseason losses included Patrick Kane, Sebastian Cossa, and Amadeus Lombardi.