Dylan Larkin will not suit up for the Detroit Red Wings in their season opener, but he may still be on the bench at Little Caesars Arena before the game.

Coach Todd McLellan ruled out Larkin playing Friday, Oct. 2, when the Wings host the New York Rangers and also Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets, also at LCA. Larkin, who requested a trade at the end of last season, has been dealing with an upper-body injury since the start of training camp and missed all four exhibition games. He has been practicing with the team since Sept. 23 and has taken part in physical battles.

“He’s working with the training staff to push through,” coach Todd McLellan said Thursday. “I’m hoping Game 3.”

That would be on Tuesday at LCA against the Ottawa Senators.

All players are usually introduced as part of opening night traditions, with injured players and healthy scratches coming out on the bench rather than the ice. But given the controversy surrounding Larkin after he asked the team to trade him, that could be courting a spirited reaction from fans.

Teammates would just like to have him in their lineup again.

“We need him as a player, and I think that’s what matters the most,” Moritz Seider said. “There will be questions along the way, but I think that’s between him and management, nothing really we can control. And then looking from the teammate and friend perspective, obviously we want him here and he can really help our team, so the more comfortable he feels with the situation, the better we are.”

Larkin plays a key role for the Wings as their top-line center, but he’s enmeshed in controversy since requesting a trade shortly after last season ended. With five years left on a contract carrying an $8.7 million salary cap hit and a no-trade clause, former general manager Steve Yzerman made it clear to Larkin and his agent, Pat Brisson, that a trade might not materialize.

The Wings – and current interim GM Shawn Horcoff reiterated this the day before camp began – are steadfast in wanting value-now players in return for Larkin, and, given their lack of depth at center, essentially need someone just like him in return. To settle for picks/prospects would be to take a step back at a time the franchise is desperate to emerge from what has grown to 10 straight years of missing the playoffs.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dylan Larkin out for Detroit Red Wings opener. But will he be introduced?

Reporting by Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press

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