What if the Red Wings had made the Stanley Cup playoffs? How might the team’s landscape look different today?

Would captain Dylan Larkin still have submitted his trade request to GM Steve Yzerman? Is Patrick Kane’s name already on a Detroit contract, rather than the growing rumors that he’s heading to the Buffalo Sabres?

Would there be more certainty about the team’s future, instead of the complete uncertainty that has put the Red Wings into a stall?

Playing the what if game is always a challenge. It’s difficult to speculate on what might have happened in the future if something different had occurred in the past.

Hindsight is always 20-20. And yet, there’s some comfort in looking back and wondering, rather than looking ahead and worrying.

Would Larkin Have Stayed With the Red Wings?

Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered. It could be that the clash between Larkin and Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman was too far gone to be patched up. Win or lose, he still might have asked out.

Then again, if the season ended with a playoff appearance, if there was a sense that the future was looking brighter for Detroit, Larkin would’ve had a hard time justifying his desire to leave what suddenly would have looked like a good thing.

There was a sense all along that Kane’s wish was to remain with the Red Wings. As with previous summers, it felt like his re-upping with the team was going to be a mere formality.

Then the Larkin stuff hit the fan, and Kane’s situation took a 180-degree turn for the worse as far as Detroit was concerned.

Would both of these scenarios have turned out differently if the Red Wings’ season had ended differently?

When the Red Wings threw away a playoff spot this season, it was the most painful loss of all for the team.

Three months later, the pain is worsening. And there’s no sign of healing on the horizon.