DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings have suspended Dylan Larkin without pay and taken him off the roster after they said his agent told the team the center will no longer play for the franchise, growing frustrated by its inability to move him months after he asked for a trade.
“We are disappointed by his decision, particularly given his obligations to the organization and his teammates,” interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said in a statement Thursday, shortly before Detroit hosted Chicago.
Detroit coach Todd McLellan told reporters earlier in the day that Larkin would not play against the Blackhawks, adding that Horcoff was expected to address the move.
Larkin asked for a trade in the offseason after the franchise extended its postseason drought to a decade, but he started the season still on the team but stripped of the captaincy.
“We’ve talked to the teams on Dylan’s list and we’ve taken calls from other teams around the league that have expressed interest in Dylan," Horcoff said. "We just continue to try to find a solution that fits for both sides.”
Messages seeking comment were left with Larkin's agent, Pat Brisson.
Larkin is the second NHL player suspended without pay this fall after requesting a trade during the offseason. Winnipeg did that with goaltender Connor Hellebuyck — a U.S. Olympic teammate of Larkin's — before sending him to New Jersey last week.
Now it's Larkin, who will forfeit roughly $41,000 a day while suspended.
The 30-year-old center has two goals and six assists in 10 games, giving him 278 goals and 649 points in 818 games since making his debut with his hometown Red Wings during the 2015-16 season. Larkin, who is from Waterford, Michigan, was drafted by Detroit No. 15 overall in 2014 after playing for the Wolverines in college.
He was a key player for the United States when it won Olympic gold last February at the Milan Cortina Games.
After missing two games with an upper-body injury, he scored in his season debut — after being booed when he touched the puck on his first shift — to help Detroit beat Ottawa. He scored again on Monday night in a win at Edmonton.
“I wanted to try to do what I could to keep Dylan here in a Red Wings jersey,” Horcoff said. “Clearly, I was unsuccessful doing that.”
Larkin has a full no-trade clause as part of his eight-year contract, which has five years remaining with an annual salary cap hit of $8.7 million. He initially told the Red Wings he would accept a trade to Florida, Minnesota and Vegas before reportedly adding more possibilities in recent weeks.
Horcoff said his goal is to acquire players that can help right away, adding he's open to deals for prospects and draft picks that give the franchise a fair return for someone of Larkin's caliber.
“With the teams that Dylan has on his list, it’s difficult to get something done in a trade like this,” Horcoff said.
Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider hopes Larkin finds happiness with another club but added the players are glad to have the awkward situation behind them.
“Hopefully, it just eliminates a little bit of the noise,” he said after Detroit's 4-1 victory over Chicago on Thursday night. “You get sick and tired of answering the same questions over and over again. It's good to put it in the past.”
Forward Alex DeBrincat echoed Seider's comments.
“It's his decision,” he said of Larkin. “We're happy with the guys who are here and we're confident in our group here. We're ready to move forward and keep getting wins.”
McLellan admitted that the constant attention on Larkin's trade request has been a distraction.
“We're moving on,” he said. “This has been going on for too long and that's all we've ever talked about.”
Nearly a month into the season, standout defenseman Simon Edvinsson remains unsigned as a restricted free agent. The 23-year-old Swede had nine goals and 25 points in 72 games last year, his second full season in the NHL. Detroit drafted him No. 6 overall in 2021 and he has 19 career goals and 60 points in 175 games.
The Red Wings want him on the team and have no interest in signing and trading him.
“Nothing’s changed," Horcoff said.
In desperately need of good news two weeks ago, the Red Wings signed two-time All-Star forward Alex DeBrincat to a seven-year contract worth $13 million per season.
Associated Press freelancer Dana Gauruder contributed to this report.
See AP’s full NHL coverage here
Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan, standing left, talks with defenseman Justin Faulk, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin reacts after his attempt was blocked by Seattle Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer for a Kraken win during a shootout in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) defends the net against Detroit Red Wings' Dylan Larkin (71) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a drone-only exhibition, apparently the first of its kind in the North, and called for rapidly expanding the country’s drone technology, state media reported Friday, as his military escalates threats against South Korea and the U.S.
Acquiring advanced drones is a top priority for Kim, who now wants to beef up both conventional and nuclear capabilities. Experts say his troops sent to Russia to support its war against Ukraine likely gained valuable expertise on drone warfare from Russian forces and their own battlefield experiences.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Kim on Thursday visited an exhibition of attack and other drones that show recent achievements in the field of uncrewed aeronautical technology.
In a speech at the exhibition, Kim stressed the need to seize “the absolute superiority in the drone technology” and announced unspecified steps needed to “rapidly expand and strengthen the unmanned aeronautical technology,” KCNA said.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it appeared to be North Korea's first exhibition exclusively dedicated to drone technology. South Korean media reported the exhibition displayed more than 30 kinds of drones including stealth drones and first-person-view attack drones.
To mark the event, KCNA said North Korea conducted test-launches of various drones, missiles and weapons from the 600 mm-caliber ultraprecision multiple rocket launchers. KCNA photos showed Kim watching soaring weapons or him clenching his fist while his teenage daughter was clapping her hands beside him. South Korea's spy agency assesses that the girl, reportedly about 13, is likely Kim's heir.
South Korea's military earlier said it detected the launches of about 10 short-range ballistic missiles off the North's east coast on Thursday. They were North Korea's first ballistic weapons firings in 17 days.
Tensions between the two Koreas are running high since last month's land mine blasts at their border that wounded three South Korean soldiers. Seoul accused North Korea of burying the mines south of the military demarcation line and demanded an apology. But Pyongyang has denied responsibility for the explosions and warned of retaliation if provoked.
Last week, North Korea threatened to resume propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts and place new weapons systems along the border.
North Korea's Defense Ministry on Friday slammed an ongoing U.S.-South Korea combined aerial exercise as “provocative” and warned it was increasing the danger of an armed conflict. South Korea's military earlier said the two-week biannual Freedom Flag drill was to run until Nov. 6 and was meant to improve combined operational capabilities. It said aerial assets like fighter jets, helicopters and drones would be mobilized.
North Korea has pulled out of talks with the U.S. and South Korea after Kim's high-stakes diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. In recent weeks, North Korea has dialed up weapons testing activities in a likely attempt to boost its leverage in potential diplomacy with the U.S. after Trump expressed his eagerness to restore talks with Kim.
On Saturday, Kim made a surprise visit to a Chinese border town via a newly opened bridge and vowed to develop bilateral ties. Kim has recently taken steps to cement ties with China, North Korea's economic pipeline, after years of prioritizing ties with Russia, including by supplying thousands of troops and ammunitions likely in return for economic and military assistance.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis arrived in North Korea on Thursday to see the reopening of Switzerland’s diplomatic office in Pyongyang and meet North Korean officials. He is travel on to South Korea on Friday.
In this photo provided on Oct. 30, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un visits an exhibition of a variety of attack and other drones at the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist area, North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided on Oct. 30, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, and his daughter, second right, visit an exhibition of a variety of attack and other drones at the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist area, North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and his delegation are greeted by officials of North Korea's ministry of foreign affairs on the arrival at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, center right, is greeted by officials of North Korea's ministry of foreign affairs on the arrival at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)
In this photo provided on Oct. 30, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un speaks during his visit to an exhibition of a variety of attack and other drones at the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist area, North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided on Oct. 30, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, his wife Ri Sol Ju, left, and their daughter, front right, watch the monitors showing the demonstrations held at an exhibition of a variety of attack and other drones at the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist area, North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a test of a drone at an undisclosed place in North Korea Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
