Jeff Blashill talks all the time about pushing Dylan Larkin to be better. He talks about Larkin accepting it, welcoming it, embracing it. Last summer at the World Championships in Denmark, Blashill, the head coach of the U.S. team, tabbed Larkin as his No. 1 center, then matched him up, shift for shift, with Connor McDavid in the second game of the tournament.
Larkin logged a team-high (and fairly absurd) 23:38 of ice time and scored twice in a 5-4 win. McDavid, who played 19:02, finished with one assist and a minus-one rating. Nine games later, the U.S. and Canada – and Larkin and McDavid – met again, this time for the bronze medal. Larkin notched an assist and finished plus-two. McDavid was held pointless and finished minus-one. The Americans won, 4-1.
The stats never tell the whole story, but this one reads pretty clear: One point and a minus-two rating for McDavid in two games opposite Larkin, 16 points and a plus-eight rating throughout the rest of the tournament.
“He’s a tough matchup,” fellow Canadian superstar John Tavares said of Larkin on Friday, with his Maple Leafs in town to face the Red Wings that night.
Larkin was a lot of things when he stormed onto the scene as a rookie in the 2015-16 season. A speedster. A goal scorer. An electrifying young talent, in the first half, anyway. But a tough matchup? Not even close. Larkin spent most of the year playing sheltered minutes on Henrik Zetterberg’s wing. His strong numbers were somewhat hollow.
The curtain was pulled back the next season when Blashill shifted Larkin to center. It was the Red Wings’ first step in grooming a replacement for Zetterberg, who was nearing the end of his road. On the surface, the experiment failed. Larkin, left to fend for himself while also trying to support his linemates, regressed in every statistical category and finished minus-28, the third-worst mark in the league.
In hindsight, the experiment worked. The growing pains Larkin went through that season have paid dividends ever since. This year the returns have skyrocketed. In his fourth season, still just 22 years old, Larkin is emerging as one of the brightest young centers in the game. An ancillary piece of the Red Wings’ rebuild two years ago is now its veritable foundation.
Just before Larkin arrived in Detroit, Mike Babcock left. But he’s observed his growth from the opposite bench, four times a season for the past four years. He got a particularly clear view back in December when Larkin put on a show in Detroit's 5-4 overtime win in Toronto. Color Babcock impressed.
“His first year he came in and he was a winger for Z, and then the next year probably wasn’t quite as good. But now he’s a dominant player in the league,” Babcock said. “Good two-way center, plays with good pace, good in the faceoff circle, penalty kill and power play regular shift, plays with a lot of energy – and seems to really like hockey.
“It looks like each night when he’s out there he’s got great intensity, he works and he’s a big part of their team.”
If the challenge for Larkin last season was playing a more well-rounded game, this season it was boosting his offense – while remaining dependable on the other side of the puck. So far, so good. Larkin has 21 goals and 48 points through 51 games, putting him on pace for career highs in both categories. A season after establishing himself as a playmaker, he’s re-established himself as a goal-scorer – while continuing to set up his teammates.
See, Larkin is cognizant of how he stacks up with his peers – his American peers, in particular. He’s not a stat fiend, but he admits he checks the media guide on gamedays and keeps particular tabs on three of his buddies: 25-year-old Johnny Gaudreau – “Johnny Hockey,” to Larkin – 22-year-old Jack Eichel and 21-year-old Auston Matthews. Matthews has 43 in points in 35 games, Eichel has 53 points in 47 games and Gaudreau has 73 points (tied for third in the NHL) in 51 games. All three of them play for winning teams.
(Larkin, for his part, doesn’t sound entirely sold on the idea. “Right now I’m in the middle, but that’s just where the coaches think I’m best,” he said. “So it is what it is.”)
Elsewhere, Larkin has been up to every challenge. He’s playing against the opposition’s top line on a nightly basis and driving possession for a team that struggles in that very department. Without diving too deep into the metrics, Larkin’s five-on-five Corsi percentage is a career-high 54.1. As a team, the Red Wings check in at 48.2. They are a drastically better team with him on the ice.
Larkin’s maturation since his rookie season is no doubt tied to his talent. He’s worked tirelessly at improving his shot, his stickhandling, his passing, you name it. It’s one thing to heighten these skills at a young age. But Larkin has pushed his ceiling higher at an age when development typically starts to level out. Now he’s starting to reap the rewards.
“He’s gotten better, that’s just the reality of it. He’s gotten better at his skills,” Blashill said. “The only way to get betters is to put in umpteen hours, you all know that. Well, he puts those hours in. To see his stick skills get better, it’s really been amazing. It’s hard when guys get older to really improve at a bunch of stuff.”
For all that talent, though, Larkin more than ever is defined by his will.
“What are his best attributes?” Blashill asked. “Certainly on the outside, his speed, his skill. Those are great attributes, (but) I think his best attribute is his competitiveness and his want to go against the other team’s best. … He wants that competition. He doesn’t win it all the time, but he loves those moments, so that’s where I think it's really drawn the best out of him.”
“He can skate with anybody in the league, he can play a strength game with anybody in the league. I think the fact that he’s done that and been able to produce (offense) says that he's on his way to being one of the elite-type players in this league. Now, there’s still room to grow, big time.”
Blashill said he talked with Larkin about this on Thursday, when the Red Wings returned from their bye week. The focus was on the defensive side of things. Larkin has about 30 games this season to prove he’s not done getting better, to rise to another challenge. Inclusion in the Selke Trophy conversation at the end of the year – even peripherally – would constitute progress.
Take Tavares. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 Draft, Tavares became a point-per-game player in his third season. The next year he was a top-25 vote-getter for the Selke. He’s been considered one of the premier players in the game ever since. It takes time to feel comfortable, Tavares said, to figure out the league and the game and how, as a young player, you fit in the two. He was 19 years old as a rookie, just like Larkin.
And just like Blashill, Tavares appreciates Larkin – most of all – for his drive.
“I think for him, at least to me, he’s extremely competitive,” Tavares said. “He comes out and brings a lot of passion to his game and work ethic. Obviously his skating, play making, ability to score goals and then, like I said, his competitiveness has just brought out an all-around game in him.”