Entering his eighth season with the Red Wings and his third as captain, Dylan Larkin is more enthused than ever. More invigorated than he can remember. More energized than he's been since maybe the year he arrived, a Waterford kid fresh out of Michigan.
In 2015, Larkin looked around the locker room and saw legends like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. He saw Niklas Kronwall on the blueline. But those guys were nearing the end, on their way out. Soon they were gone. Larkin, 26, looks around the room this year and sees a batch of new arrivals.
He sees a true No. 2 center in Andrew Copp, who can also play wing. There's another 50 to 60 points. He sees proven scorers in David Perron and Dominik Kubalik. There's another 40 to 50 goals. He sees sturdy defensemen in Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta. There's 40 minutes of smarter hockey each night. He sees a team that with good health and the right breaks can finally gain some ground in a crowded Eastern Conference.
Larkin also sees his old linemates: Tyler Bertuzzi and Lucas Raymond. Add it all up and sees a big year for himself.
"I feel great going into the season, playing with Lucas and Tyler. If the team needs a different look, there’s more options than there’s ever been in terms of talented players to play with," Larkin said Thursday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "With that, there’s definitely a pressure that I put on myself to drive the bus for the team and be an energy guy and someone that plays the right way and carries the puck up and down the ice.
"I expect to be flying tomorrow night."
Friday night is when the puck drops on Detroit's season, against Montreal at Little Caesars Arena. An Original Six battle in Hockeytown, a matchup of two historic teams trying to find their way forward. The Red Wings haven't made the playoffs since Larkin's rookie season, a six-year drought that recalls the Dead Wings. It is unlikely, though not impossible, that they snap that skid this season. It is unrealistic in a conference where as many as seven teams are already penciled into the playoffs. Who's regressing in the East?
It is not unrealistic to expect the Red Wings to improve, to stop hemorrhaging scoring chances and goals, to play smarter hockey under new head coach Derek Lalonde, who arrives with two Stanley Cups and a sound defensive system from his time with the Lightning.
"Derek has brought a lot of stuff from Tampa," Larkin said. "His X’s and O’s are very simple but effective. He’s shown a lot of clips and video of what Tampa’s done, and when you see that you obviously know it’s proven. When you go play against Tampa it’s an extremely difficult night. So I’m excited. The way we play, we’re going to try to use our speed and be more organized defensively."
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Larkin scored almost a point per game last season. On some nights, he made it look easy. He left zero doubt about his status as a No. 1 center. On the flip side, he finished minus-18 on a team that allowed the second most goals in the NHL. On a lot of nights, especially in the second half of the season, he and his teammates looked overwhelmed.
Lalonde intends to change that. The new additions will help. So will growth on the part of the returners. And when the system breaks down, the Red Wings have a pair of goalies in Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic who could form one of the stronger tandems in the NHL.
"The past couple years, we would get hemmed in our zone for a couple minutes at a time, we would take on shot after shot and we really didn’t have much. This year, we have a deeper group," Larkin said. "We have two really good goalies that I trust are going to make a big save at a big moment. And we’re going to defend together as a five-man unit: stay tight, let their players play on the outside and then we’re going to try and get the puck and be smart with it going the other way.
"We’re really trying to be better defensively as a team."
It's a team that gives Larkin hope, a team with more proven talent than he's seen in a while, led by a captain who will be flying Friday night.
"Big picture, we’re way further ahead than we were before," he said. "That’s additions to the roster, guys taking steps in their careers, younger players fighting to get into the lineup, depth. I really believe that we’re further along than we have been."