Without a doubt the biggest NHL headline of the day, the Detroit Red Wings will enter the season without a captain. Dylan Larkin, who requested a trade out of Detroit over the offseason, will see his tenure as captain come to an end as he hopes the team fullfills his trade request and find him a new home. Both Larkin and the organization put out statements Friday morning.

Here is what Larkin said:

“Over the past couple of weeks, Red Wings leadership and I have had several in-depth discussions. I’ve appreciated those candid conversations, and I will be at training camp with my teammates. When new leadership is in place, we’ll talk further about the direction of the team. We will keep those conversations private, and I will keep my focus on the season ahead and on the guys in that room.”

From the Red Wings:

On Dylan Larkin Reporting to Camp:
“We look forward to seeing Dylan and the rest of his teammates at Little Caesars Arena for the start of training camp as we prepare for the upcoming season.”
On Dylan Larkin’s Trade Request:
“Dylan is under contract as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. Any conversations regarding his future with the Club will take place privately when a new hockey operations leader has been named. As such, we will not comment any further on this matter.”
On the Captaincy of the Red Wings:
“The Red Wings will begin the 2026-27 season without a captain being named. Any further discussions or decisions regarding this topic will be made once new hockey operations leadership is in place.”

The Red Wings remain without a President of Hockey Operations or a General Manager after Steve Yzerman announced that he would be transitioning to a Senior Advisor role. Yzerman is still handling day-to-day hockey operations in the interim.

Larkin has served as Detroit’s captain since the 2020-21 season and is heading into year four of an eight-year deal that will see him earn $8.7 million annually. His contract carries a full no-trade clause until 2028-29, when it turns into a modified NTC with a 10-team no-trade list.

After appearing in exactly 700 NHL games, John Klingberg is hanging up his skates.

Klingberg, 34, will best be remembered for his time with the Dallas Stars, who initally drafted him in the fifth-round of the 2010 NHL Draft. Klingberg was an elite puck-moving defenceman, and posted multiple 45-plus point seasons as a member of the Stars.

He left the Stars in free agency during the 2022 offseason, signing a one-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks. Klingberg battled injuries in the following seasons, making stops with the Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, and most recently, the San Jose Sharks. Klingberg appeared in 56 games with the Sharks last season and put up 10 goals and 17 assists.

In total, Klingberg finishes his run in the NHL with 92 goals and 351 assists for 443 points in 700 regular season games to go with 43 points in 92 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Remember Kole Lind? Remember the draft video where Jim Benning asked why nobody was drafting Kole Lind?

Lind, whom the Canucks selected 33rd overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, has spent the last two seasons playing exclusively in the AHL and has been without a contract as NHL teams head into training camp. On Friday, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they had signed Lind to a professional tryout contract.

That means that Lind will participate in Lightning training camp and try to earn himself an NHL contract, and at the very least, a permanent role in the Lightning organization.

Lind, 27, spent the last two seasons in the Dallas Stars organization, playing exclusively with their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. The 6’1″, right-handed forward appeared in 70 games with Texas in the 2025-26 regular season, collecting 11 goals and 35 points; he added two goals in five playoff contests with the club.

The Canucks initially lost Lind to the Seattle Kraken via the NHL expansion draft in 2021. Lind received his first extended NHL look with Seattle in their inaugural season, skating in 23 games with the club in 2021-22 and collecting two goals and eight points. But he spent most of his three-year tenure in the Kraken organization in the AHL, appearing in just one more NHL game with Seattle in 2023-24 before leaving as a free agent.