Dylan Larkin 'no longer wants to be a Red Wing,' interim GM Shawn Horcoff says

DETROIT — The phone call came in the morning of Thursday, Oct. 29, and it was a shocker.

Shawn Horcoff, the Red Wings' interim general manager, took the call from Pat Brisson, Dylan Larkin's agent, informing Horcoff that Larkin had upped the stakes in his formal request to be traded from the Red Wings, which has been there since June .

"To put it simply, we received the call from Dylan's agent today just saying that Dylan no longer was going to be coming to the rink and no longer wants to be a part of the Red Wings," said Horcoff, in a brief press conference at Little Caesars Arena before the Wings faced the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Wings suspended Larkin , 30, who will forfeit $41,237.11 for each day he sits out.

Larkin has five years remaining on an eight-year contract worth an average of $8.7 million annually.

The news from Larkin's side blindsided Horcoff.

"For a large part Dylan kind of overcame the biggest hurdle, really, which was coming back and facing the initial (questions) from you guys and get on the ice for the first time with the fans," Horcoff said. "My initial plan was to try to fix it. I wanted to try to do what I could to keep Dylan here and in a Red Wing jersey, and clearly I was unsuccessful doing that."

The chance of reconciliation, or fixing this broken situation, seems farfetched.

"I'll say at this point is Dylan no longer wants to be Red Wing, and he's not with us," Horcoff said. "I mean that pretty much you know is a strong statement. It's pretty cut and dry."

Horcoff noticed Larkin becoming frustrated toward the end of the recent nine-day road trip the Wings had.

"The last couple days and maybe on the road trip (you could) sense that things were a little bit off with him," Horcoff said. "He was growing maybe a little bit more frustrated. But I will say it was a bit of a surprise.

"Probably the last couple days you kind of saw something a little bit different with Dylan, (and) Dylan's going to have to answer those questions on exactly what he was feeling."

Trade talks are ongoing, Horcoff said, with the 10 teams on Larkin's preferred list to be dealt (Larkin has a no-trade clause). But any trade looks far away at this point.

As for the Wings' other huge issue currently, unsigned restricted free agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson, nothing has apparently changed. Edvinsson must sign before Dec. 1 or will be ineligible to play the rest of the season.

"Status quo. Nothing has changed there. Still trying to get something done, I'd like to sign him," Horcoff said.