Dylan Larkin Speaks To Media About Trade Request

We already heard this week that Dylan Larkin won't be skating at Detroit Red Wings' training camp as things get underway this week due to an injury. But he was there to face the media for the first time today since his trade demand at the beginning of the offseason. 

Larkin was asked about it, and he said the reasons are personal:

"I'm going to try to be honest with you guys today and I'm not ready to go there yet,"

Here is Dylan Larkin's full response to being asked why he requested a trade from the Red Wings pic.twitter.com/OHxppOX0sV

— Alex Crescenti (@alex_crescenti) September 17, 2026

"I'm speaking to you guys today because you guys deserve answers," Larkin said. "The fans deserve answers. I don't want this distraction.I don't want one of my teammates to have to answer before you hear from me. I'm trying to be professional about it... 

"There's a lot there. A lot of personal stuff. To be honest with you − I'm going to try and be honest with you guys today. And that's as far as I'll go on that.

"I understand that there's answers that fans and people that care about this organization around the world want to know. But I'm really not ready to go there. It's maybe something that I may never be. And it wasn't easy to get to that decision. It was very hard. It wasn't a spur of the moment thing. I don't take what I did lightly. I got to that point and, you know, I'm not quite ready to talk about it." 

So basically, he took over a full minute to, essentially, say nothing. Everyone is still as much in the dark about his trade request as we were at the beginning of the summer. It will continue to leave the speculation out there that's centered around former hockey operations boss Steve Yzerman being at the root of the problem for Larkin. 

Of course, Yzerman is gone now (at least, from the hockey operations dept.), and a new general manager—or "Interim" GM—is in place, in Shawn Horcoff. But it doesn't sound like his trade request has changed. Or has it? 

Once he recovers from his upper-body injury, Larkin will join his Red Wings teammates on the ice... IF a trade hasn't been consummated. 

As for those teammates, Larkin did say he told them all that his trade request was not because of them. 

“I’ve tried to give them space to let it sink in, and I wish so badly I could be on the ice because that’s where the actions will follow the talking,” Larkin said.

“I think it was positive. I think addressing it in front of them, being honest in front of them is all I can really do. I think the collective feeling was, ‘Let’s move on and focus on the season coming up, and the great storylines that come out of camp.’ … I felt it was positive.”