Dylan Larkin trade buzz builds after Steve Yzerman's latest stance

Dylan Larkin wants out of Detroit, and the Red Wings front office isn't hiding it anymore.

Elliotte Friedman dropped the line on Saturday afternoon that should worry anyone still holding onto hope in Hockeytown.

"I'm not convinced that Yzerman wants to start the season with this distraction," Friedman said on 32 Thoughts, referencing Larkin's trade request.

That request has been sitting on Steve Yzerman's desk for weeks now. No resolution. No denial. Just silence and speculation piling up.

Larkin isn't fading, either. He put up 34 goals and 33 assists for 67 points in 74 games this season, still the engine of whatever offense Detroit has left.

Over his last 10 games he's got 11 points, five goals and six assists, though he's gone minus-3 in that stretch while the team around him collapses.

Zoom out and the picture gets uglier. Detroit sits 16th overall with a 41-31-10 record, a minus-17 goal differential, and they've lost three straight, including an 8-1 blowout at Florida.

Why Larkin's $8.7 million cap hit complicates everything

Larkin carries an $8,700,000 cap hit, the kind of number that shrinks the trade market fast. Not every contender wants to absorb that on a captain who's asked out.

And that's the trap Yzerman built for himself. He extended the face of the franchise, then watched the losing pile up until the face wanted a new address.

Todd McLellan is the one running this room every night, trying to squeeze structure out of a group that just got embarrassed on national television. Good luck coaching through a captain's trade request.

Is there a version of this where Larkin stays and Detroit convinces him the rebuild is close? Sure. Nobody in that locker room is betting on it.

Yzerman has a history of moving fast once he decides. If this is heading where Friedman thinks it's heading, training camp becomes the deadline, not the start of something new.