Dylan Larkin throws Steve Yzerman under the bus on Monday.

It is not very often that you will hear a player in the National Hockey League be openly critical of the decisions made by his team's management, and it is even less common to hear that kind of talk coming from that team's captain.

On Monday, during his end of season media availability, Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was openly critical of the decisions made by Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman at the trade deadline. Larkin stopped short of calling Yzerman out by name, but made it very clear that he felt the general manager had negatively impacted the team's chances of success down the stretch.

Larkin was asked whether or not he felt the team was moving in the right direction, and it was during his answer to that question that the criticisms of Yzerman's work at the trade deadline were uttered.

"Especially March it was hard," admitted Larkin. "We didn't do anything and I felt the group didn't gain any momentum from the trade deadline."

Larkin also admitted that the decisions at the trade deadline had left the Red Wings locker room feeling deflated.

"Guys were kind of down about it," admitted Larkin.

As if to make sure the message was getting across, Larkin doubled down on his comments by pointing that things could have been different if the Red Wings had brought in some help at the deadline.

"It would be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well," said Larkin.

While you don't usually hear players being openly critical of management, I think we are also at a point where it has become very difficult to criticize Larkin for his frustration. Larkin has been in the NHL for 10 seasons, all of which he has spent with the Red Wings, and has only ever appeared in 5 playoff games during that time. Making matters worse, all 5 of those playoff games came during his first season with the franchise and he has since missed the playoffs for 9 seasons in a row.

You can hear Larkin in his own words in the short clip below: