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Three ways Detroit Red Wings GM Holland screwed up the Larkin deal

By Ash Thompson

MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 26: Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings skates the puck against Byron Froese during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on March 26, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 26: Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings skates the puck against Byron Froese during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on March 26, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 23: General manager Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings speaks with the media following the NHL general managers meetings at the Bellagio Las Vegas on June 23, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 23: General manager Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings speaks with the media following the NHL general managers meetings at the Bellagio Las Vegas on June 23, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Future

Ken Holland has given out the team’s eleventh no-trade clause. While right now the idea that Larkin might move on after the contract ends is far from Wings fans minds, the clause reported by Craig Custance of the Athletic puts the team in the position of needing to decide whether they can extend Larkin in Detroit with a full year left on the contract.

Larkin did not give up any years of unrestricted free agency to get his money. The five-year term means that in the final season of the deal Larkin has 100% control over any trades the team might want to explore. If he is not happy with the direction the team is going, the Red Wings could end up in the same boat as the 2018 New York Islanders.

John Tavares went to the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent this offseason. As a result, the entire Islanders brain trust was fired. Holland has made some good moves to bolster the rebuild this offseason but he can not be given a pass here. He lost this negotiation in every imaginable way.

That isn’t something fans should be focused on right now. Larkin is in Detroit for five years and that’s reason for optimism. It is something, however, that a qualified NHL general manager should have stopped doing long ago. Ken Holland is never going to learn, this deal proves that.

Next. 3 Players the Red Wings should move to make room for Larkin. dark

Be happy that the Wings locked up their best player long-term, but do not give Holland a pass here. The Red Wings GM has taken care of the present (sort of) with little or no regard for the future.

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