Before the surprise had worn off from last week’s news that Steve Yzerman is out as Detroit Red Wings general manager, one of the key next dominoes quickly rose to the surface: what does this all mean for Dylan Larkin’s trade request?It has been nearly seven weeks since the Red Wings captain’s request got out and changed everything for the organization. And while we have yet to hear from Yzerman or ownership on the decision to transition him from general manager to a senior adviser serving governor and CEO Chris Ilitch, it’s easy to draw a line between the two major storylines of Detroit’s offseason.Larkin and Yzerman had clashed, including at times publicly, and the mere fact a hometown captain wanted out speaks to the state of the franchise — stuck, stagnant and perhaps in need of a reset.With Yzerman out, the immediate next question was whether Larkin might now reconsider his request. And it makes sense: while the Red Wings’ 10-year playoff drought (all of which Larkin has endured) was surely a key motivating factor as well, a change at the top at least offers the possibility for a fresh path forward.Did the Panthers and Lightning fleece the Leafs?Sean McIndoe and Jonas SiegelBut for now, without knowing who the next head of hockey operations will be, it’s still too early — and too hypothetical — to say for sure. And that’s just the first of a long list of reasons a reconciliation would be complicated.Start with the fans, because the reaction to Larkin’s request within the market has been highly charged. And it goes beyond the obvious rejection of a long-tenured player wanting out.Larkin was the centerpiece of the Red Wings’ rebuild when Yzerman arrived, the one true top-of-the-lineup piece he inherited. And for the early years of that rebuild, it was clear what the Red Wings were in for: a lot of losing, no matter what any one player did out there.In that time, Larkin came into his own, becoming an underrated player league-wide, whose point totals didn’t match his overall value as a competitive, all-situations center. As he reached his prime, he hovered around a point-per-game offensively, and consistently took on tough matchups.But as the team’s captain, he was also the one trotted out to answer for a lot of losses. He was a rare common thread across three coaching regimes. And by the final years of Yzerman’s tenure, as the team started to seriously compete for the playoffs with a stronger supporting cast around Larkin — led by Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat — Larkin came under more scrutiny individually.When he called out Yzerman a year ago for inaction at the 2025 trade deadline, even Yzerman seemed to turn it back around at his captain, noting that the Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues had made the playoffs without splashy deadline additions that season, “led by their best players.”