Larkin Pans Red Wings, Yzerman For Not Doing Enough at Deadline

Detroit Red Wings fans felt let down that GM Steve Yzerman didn’t act more bodly at the NHL trade deadline with a playoff spot right there for the team to grab.

Evidently, there was also some of that sentiment within the walls of the Red Wings locker room.

Speaking to the media during the club’s locker clean out day, captain Dylan Larkin was expressing that the team’s lull in March may have been impacted by inaction at the deadline.

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“I think especially March, it was hard that we didn’t do anything,” Larkin said. “And then I felt the group kind of, we didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kind of down about it, so it’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well.”

Yzerman was adding two pieces at the deadline, bringing in fourth-line forward Craig Smith and journeyman goaltender Petr Mrazek. Smith contributed two assists and was minus-two over 19 games for Detroit.

In five appearances, Mrazek went 2-2 with one shutout, a .902 save percentage and 2.49 GAA. He’s under contract for next season.

Red Wings Opponents Made Moves

Meanwhile, both of the teams that wound up garnering the two Eastern Conference Wild Card positions were making moves to bolster their chances. Ottawa was adding center Dylan Cozens from Buffalo, a player the Red Wings also coveted. The Senators had previously acquired Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins in the offseason.

Montreal didn’t make a move at the deadline. However, the Canadiens did acquire three-time 30-goal scorer Patrik Laine from Columbus earlier in the season. The Finnish winger scored 20 goals for the Habs in 52 games.

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Not every Detroit player was sharing Larkin’s assessment of the team’s deadline inactivity. Winger Patrick Kane was of the opinion that the team was geling under new coach Todd McLellan, so why mess with the chemistry when things were working?

“I think we were kind of rolling with our group,” Kane said. “I mean, we did have two seven-game winning streaks in different ways with within our group. So there was a lot of confidence that we could, especially during those runs, that we could go out and win any game we were playing.”