The Detroit Red Wings announced Thursday that star forward Dylan Larkin has been suspended without pay after informing the team he no longer wanted to play for the organization.
Detroit suspended Larkin hours after the 30-year-old missed morning skate and was held out of the lineup for what was described as "trade-related" reasons, league sources told ESPN earlier in the day. Larkin will forfeit $41,000 a day in salary during the suspension.
"To put it simply, we received a call from Dylan's agent today saying that Dylan wasn't going to be coming to the rink today and no longer wanted to be part of the Red Wings," interim general manager Shawn Horcoff told reporters Thursday.
Horcoff characterized trade talks as "ongoing," saying it had been another busy day for him managing discussions with Larkin's suitors.
"The truth is when you have a player of Dylan's caliber available, your phone rings daily," he said. "And my phone rang a lot today."
Larkin was already in a tenuous spot with the franchise before Thursday. The Michigan native, who spent his entire career with the club that drafted in the first round in 2014, requested a trade in June.
Sources told ESPN's Emily Kaplan that Larkin met with his agents, Pat Brisson and Matt Williams, on Wednesday evening and determined that he'd had enough. His decision to stay away wasn't made in a vacuum. He believed that he had handled the situation professionally since making the trade request and that the Wings had dragged their feet.
Horcoff praised the Red Wings' former captain for how he had performed over his tenure with the team -- even if that won't materialize a trade any quicker.
"I've got to give Dylan a lot of credit -- he went out and played hard for us," Horcoff said. "Dylan's been here for 12 years. In terms of [how long he's] sitting out, I can't put a timeline on it. With the teams on his list, a trade is difficult."
ESPN confirmed last week that Larkin had expanded his initial list of potential destinations from three teams to 10. Larkin, who has a no-trade clause, is in the fourth year of an eight-year contract worth $8.7 million annually.
As to whether Horcoff was caught off guard by Larkin digging in his heels, the executive said he couldn't deny that there were signs a standoff might be coming even if he wasn't fully prepared to see it.
"I will say that it was a bit of a surprise to me," Horcoff said. "[But] I think the last few days maybe on the [team's] road trip, you could sense that things were a little bit off with him, and he was growing maybe a little bit more frustrated."
Thursday's development is the latest in a lengthy saga for Larkin. The two-way center, who was a member of the United States men's hockey team that in February became the first to win Olympic gold since 1980, reported to Red Wings training camp but was stripped of his team captaincy.
Larkin missed the start of the season because of an upper-body injury and was placed on injured reserve. He was still part of the team's introductions in its home-opening loss Oct. 2 to the New York Rangers, during which he was booed by fans at Little Caesars Arena.
He returned to the lineup Oct. 6, when he had a goal and an assist in the team's 5-3 win against the Ottawa Senators. Larkin has two goals and six points through 10 games this season. Larkin, who has scored at least 30 goals six times, is also aiming for what would be a sixth straight season of more than 67 points.
Entering Thursday, the Red Wings were 5-4-3, three points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference.
ESPN's Kristen Shilton contributed to this report.