You'd think Wings fans wouldn't be making these comparisons, since, without considering age, the amount of NCAA players who have produced like Larkin before, who didn't make much of an impact in the NHL. The Leafs have had a few of those in recent years, including Frattin, Stalberg, and Bozak.
You have to be joking. None of those guys put up the numbers in the NCAA as freshman that Larkin did. Hell, not even Jonathan Toews put up the kind of numbers Larkin did as a freshman in the NCAA, so I doubt there's much of a chance Larkin will turn into one of those NCAA busts.
JT freshman year 39pts in 42 games or .929PPG
DL freshman year 47pts in 35 games or 1.343PPG
This season, as a 19 yo rookie, Larkin is the second leading scorer on Detroit, only trailing Zetterberg. As a teenager, he has scored goals in 4 straight games, something that hasn't been done since a kid by the name of Stevie Y last did it. And from what I rememeber, that Stevie Y kid turned out pretty good too.
Larkin leads the Wings in goals, game winning goals, and leads the league in +/-. The kid has already shown he is a gamer and just has a knack for sniffing out the puck and creating offense for himself and his line.
The chance that Larkin tuns into a NCAA bust at this point is about ZERO unless his career is sideline with injuries. He has already shown himself to be one of the better forwards on the Detroit roster going forward.