Dylan Larkin is no longer listed on the Detroit Red Wings’ roster. The team’s former captain no longer has a nameplate in the locker room.
The Red Wings will play their second game since suspending Larkin without pay when they host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon.
Larkin requested a trade early in the offseason, but the front office hasn’t found a suitable deal. Following the team’s road trip earlier this week, Larkin and his representatives chose to sit out until he’s dealt. That prompted the suspension and the end of an awkward situation for the rest of the team.
“Hopefully, it just eliminates a little bit of noise,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “You get sick and tired of answering the same questions over and over again. Now, it’s good to put it in the past, turn the page and get really excited for whoever we get (in a trade), whatever pick we get and we’ll have players that are happy to be here.”
The Red Wings did just fine in their first game after the suspension, pulling away to a 4-1 win over Chicago on Thursday. Viktor Arvidsson netted his sixth career hat trick as Detroit won for the fifth time in its last seven games.
“We’re moving on. This has been going on for too long and that’s all we’ve ever talked about,” coach Todd McLellan said of the issues created by Larkin’s trade request. “We just played a heck of a game (Thursday) on a day that could have gone either way, coming back from a road trip and all the other stuff that went on. But the group pulled together and played like a team.”
Arvidsson, who signed a two-year, $10 million contract as a free agent this offseason, has a team-high eight goals.
“It’s fun. I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I’m just trying to do my part and work hard and try to go to the net as much as I can. Playing with (forward linemates Alex DeBrincat and Emmitt Finnie) has been working really well.”
The Blues wrapped up a 3-2-0 homestand with a 4-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Robert Thomas and Philip Broberg led the offense with a goal and two assists apiece.
St. Louis had been blanked by Carolina and Montreal in its previous two outings.
“What we want to take away from it is 3-2, but we probably should have been 4-1, and we played the elite in the league,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “All five teams that came in here. … We played really good teams, we matched up well and three of the last four games playing to what I believe is our identity. You can see the process starting to come and that we’re playing real good hockey. In three of those games, we outplayed really good hockey teams.”
The matinee on Saturday begins a four-game journey for the Blues, who have gone 2-4-0 on the road. They’ll also visit the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators.
Detroit won both of its matchups with St. Louis last season, outscoring the Blues 11-6.