Dylan Larkin is no longer on the photo display at Little Caesars Arena, and Red Wings fans spotted it inside an hour.
The 2025 version of that bench had four figures sitting on it. The 2026 one has three. Number 71 is the one missing.
Nobody has explained why. The club hasn't announced anything and the player is still on the roster.
Fans will read it as a signal anyway. Hard to blame anybody for that after the week Detroit just had.
He asked out. That's been reported for days and nothing since has walked it back.
This isn't a player fading, either. He put up 33 assists last season and finished at a +3.
He also had 9 points across his final five games. Whatever else was going on, the hands were still working.
Red Wings fans spot Dylan Larkin missing from arena photo display
Horcoff was named interim general manager this week. That situation was already sitting on the desk when he got there.
Elliotte Friedman said ownership wouldn't make a deal that wasn't for immediate help. That's a front office being told no.
Yzerman had warned them a trade probably wouldn't win in the short term. They didn't want to hear it.
Carlos Monarrez reported earlier in the offseason that Chris Ilitch struck down a free agency deal involving Steven Stamkos.
Ilitch has insisted he gives his sports leaders full autonomy and authority. Two reported vetoes tell a different story.
The contract carries an $8,700,000 cap hit, and he's listed as questionable for the start of the season with an upper body issue.
Minnesota remains the likeliest landing spot, and Yzerman reportedly asked for Matthew Boldy coming back.
The Red Wings went 21-16-4 at home last season and landed 16th overall. Middling in every direction that matters.
Alex DeBrincat scored 41 goals and Moritz Seider piled up 50 assists. There's a real roster underneath all this noise.
Todd McLellan has run that bench since December 2024. He opens camp with every piece of it unresolved.
So does a photo display mean anything? Probably not. Taking a face off a wall works like dropping someone from a group chat. Nothing official happened, and everybody understood it instantly.
The player is still in the room. The picture isn't. One of those gets sorted before the season starts, and nobody in Detroit is confident about which one.
Did the Red Wings send Dylan Larkin a message by removing that photo?
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