Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin To Miss Two Games

Dylan Larkin will continue to sit on the sidelines with an upper-body injury sustained at the start of training camp. The former Detroit Red Wings captain has been ruled out of the first two games of the season, head coach Todd McLellan told media including Max Bultman of The Athletic. McLellan mentioned that the team is hopeful Larkin will return for their third game of the season on October 6th.

This will add another weight to a heavy Red Wings off-season. The club has faced turmoil since the early-summer, sparked by Larkin’s request for a trade away from the city where he spent the first 11 years of his career. One month after Larkin’s request, the Red Wings relieved general manager Steve Yzerman of his duties. Detroit took two months to search for Yzerman’s successor before naming Shawn Horcoff as interim GM. His September appointment challenged the team’s ability to re-sign restricted free agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson. While Larkin’s current injury does not directly relate to Detroit’s dramatic summer, the absence of their top-center will compound challenges for a Wings team already missing a top-four defenseman.

Larkin continued to be a consistent part of Detroit’s lineup last season. He recorded 34 goals and 67 points, marking a fifth-straight season with at least 30 goals and 65 points. That span included Larkin’s career-year – the 2022-23 campaign, when he notched 32 goals and 79 points in 80 games. On top of reliable offense, Larkin has already recorded a 53.9 faceoff percentage on more than 7,000 draws over the last five seasons – and averaged 34 shot blocks and 56 hits per season.

Larkin has averaged at least 20 minutes a night through the last three seasons. He is a pillar of the Detroit lineup who will leave a major vacancy for as long as he’s on the sidelines. Center Andrew Copp will be the favorite to move into a top-line role between Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond. The center depth chart could become fuzzy behind him. Detroit is carrying veteran J.T. Compher and youngsters Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson. All three could have a claim for second-line minutes. Compher has been a reliable two-way center through three seasons in Detroit. He filled a third-line role last season, while Kasper operated on the fourth-line behind him – marking a step down in impact after he scored 37 points in his rookie season of 2024-25.

Elevating Kasper to the second-line could be a shrewd way to spark his rookie-year scoring. That role could also pipeline rookie Danielson into an important role early into his career, after he scored 15 points in 18 AHL games last season. Kasper and Danielson will offer a glimpse of offensive upside, while Compher would better support Detroit’s defense. How the trio is deployed could go far in spelling out Detroit’s future if, and when, Larkin’s trade request is honored.