Alex DeBrincat is not distancing himself from Dylan Larkin as the Detroit Red Wings captain enters another season with an unresolved trade request.

Larkin has been skating informally with teammates at Little Caesars Arena, and DeBrincat was asked this week how the captain has been received following an offseason unlike any other in his Detroit career.

“He’s always been a great teammate to me and a great friend. I feel like at this moment our team is definitely better with him,” DeBrincat said at the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour.

DeBrincat added that Larkin’s decision to request a trade was his to make, while continuing to describe him as Detroit’s leader and one of its best players.

The comments arrive more than three months after Larkin’s reported trade request first surfaced.

DeBrincat Separates the Request From the Teammate

DeBrincat did not endorse Larkin’s decision to seek a trade, nor did he attempt to explain why the captain made it. His point was simpler: the request has not changed how he views Larkin as a teammate.

That distinction could become increasingly important.

Steve Yzerman publicly confirmed in June that Larkin’s agent had requested a trade and later supplied Detroit with a short list of teams for which Larkin would waive his no-trade clause. Yzerman also made no guarantee that Detroit would accommodate the request, making clear that any deal still had to work for the Red Wings.

No trade has materialized, and there has been no indication that Larkin has withdrawn the request.

For DeBrincat, those facts apparently do not change the hockey calculation. In his view, Detroit remains a better team with Larkin in the lineup.

Larkin Could Still Open the Season in Detroit

That is becoming the practical issue for the Red Wings.

With training camp approaching and no deal completed, Larkin is expected to report and play for Detroit unless the organization finds a trade before then.

DeBrincat’s comments do not tell us how every player in the dressing room feels, and they should not be stretched that far. They do provide the clearest public indication yet that one of Detroit’s most important players has no intention of treating Larkin differently because he asked out.

That matters if this situation stretches into the regular season.

The Red Wings still have a trade request to resolve. DeBrincat, at least, has made his position on the player behind it clear: Detroit is better with Dylan Larkin.