Dylan Larkin has decided he now likes playing center, and he'd like to echo Kenny Holland's sentiments about keeping children away from the NHL.

“It’s something where we don’t want to be looked at as kids,” Larkin said. “We want to play like men and produce.
“It’s time definitely.”

He's talking about fellow men, Anthony Mantha and Martin Frk.

He's not talking about Andreas Athanasiou, because Kenny won't let him play yet.

Meanwhile, Jeff Blashill thought long and hard before dropping this gem.

“We need Larkin to have a great year, we need Mantha to have a great year, because they’re going to garner a lot of ice time,” Blashill said. “When you get lots of ice time, there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that.
“They’ll have a big say in how our season goes.”

Garner. Good word. Not your typical Blash predicate, a little more advanced than what we're used to. Nice work.

Speaking of petulant children and tough-guy GMs who refuse to budge, Khan(!) claims a trade isn't happening because Tick Tock doesn't want to give any other future RFAs the idea that just because they can't stand their coach, they can just, you know, leave.

The Red Wings aren’t inclined to trade the fast-skating forward unless they get a tremendous offer (top-four defenseman, similar young forward with high upside) and that isn’t likely to happen. The club also is concerned about the message a trade would send to other young players who are up for contracts in the near future, that if they don’t get what they want the Red Wings will also accomodate them with a move."

More on that and on some Dong and on the Wings first trip to Vegas. No word on whether Jiri Hudler will be meeting them there.

Uh oh. Hadn't read this. Apparently PETA, in all their squishy, tearful glory, had offered stuffed octopi to fans who wanted to toss a child's toy in the direction of the LCA ice Thursday night. Nice gesture, but no thanks. Not gonna happen, said Nick Horvath.

Horvath said he was the last to throw an octopus at Joe Louis Arena.

Although he knew PETA was offering toy octopuses to throw, he said no.

"What's the big deal?" he asked. "I didn't care."

On Thursday, Horvath walked from his seat towards the ice, where security saw the clear bag he was carrying.

"He tried to stop me from throwing it and I powered through him," he said. "I powered through him, I got it right over top of him but he had me right away."

He said not only was he thrown out of the game, but he was also hit with a court order for throwing an octopus on the playing area.

The City of Detroit says it's unlawful for anyone to throw any object that could cause injury or damage at an athletic event.
In the Little Caesars Arena guidebook under prohibited items, it says nothing about octopuses.

PETA officials, staked out at a Birmingham Toys R Us location, surrounded by teddy bears and Muppets, refused to comment.