Dylan Larkin down but determined: 'Need to get Red Wings back in playoffs'

The pain of missing out yet again lingers, but there's no sign Dylan Larkin is growing impatient with the Detroit Red Wings 10 years after he and they last made the playoffs. Larkin was among 10 players who met with reporters on Friday, April 17, two days after the Wings closed out the 2025-26 season. There's been no word from the organization on when general manager Steve Yzerman will make himself available.

But the players did, Larkin the last to go. He opened up about the frustration of again being done after 82 games, about the injury that hampered him the last five weeks of the season, and what needs to happen for the Wings to have a better chance next season of ending what's become the longest active playoff drought in the NHL. MORE: Cleaning out lockers not enough, Detroit Red Wings need a makeover Tough time emotionally Larkin sat out the 8-1 loss that tarnished the Wings' season-ending performance on Wednesday at the Florida Panthers.

The Wings played twice after being eliminated when they lost at home to the New Jersey Devils on April 11, and days later, that feeling lingered. "It's been hard," he said. "I think it's been very difficult end to the season.

Never a fun time when you miss the playoffs, but especially in this fashion and kind of being here again. So today is not a pleasant day around the rink, for sure. " Ten long years Larkin joined the Wings in 2015 and got his first – and so far only – taste of the NHL playoffs in the spring of 2016.