Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has requested a trade by submitting a three-team list of desired destinations, a person familiar with discussions confirmed to The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because talks are private. The Detroit Free Press first reported the development earlier in the day.
Larkin has a full no-trade clause as part of his contract, and his list was limited to being dealt to Vegas, Minnesota and Florida. He has five years left on an eight-year, $69.6 million contract, which carries an annual salary cap hit of $8.7 million.
The 29-year-old’s trade demand comes after completing his 11th season in Detroit, and 10th straight without a playoff berth. The Red Wings’ decade-long postseason drought now stands as the NHL’s longest active run after the Buffalo Sabres qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 15 years this season.
The Red Wings faltered down the stretch in becoming the NHL’s second team to have 69 points through 53 games only to miss the playoffs.
From Waterford, Michigan, Larkin enjoyed success in his Olympic debut, by winning a gold medal representing the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Games in February.
The challenge for Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is working out a deal with any of the three teams, who each are projected to be in the bottom half of the NHL in having $15.2 million or less in cap space available entering next season, according to spotrac.com.
And they include the Golden Knights, who rank 31st among the NHL’s 32 teams in currently having just $4.6 million of space available.
It’s unclear whether Larkin would be open to potentially expanding his list.
Larkin has spent his entire career in the Detroit area. He played collegiately at Michigan, and was selected by Detroit with the 15th pick in the 2014 draft. He’s a six-time 30-goal scorer, and coming off a season in which he had 67 points, including a career-best 34 goals in 74 games.
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