Please follow me to the end on this, because I'm not saying this to start any flame wars or crazy tangents.
Though his first three seasons, Larkin scored 115 ES points. In that same window, Toews scored 119 ES points. (FYI, Datsyuk had 105, and Zetterberg had 108.)
I'm not saying Larkin is now, or ever will be as good as Toews or Datsyuk or Zetterberg. I'm saying that, in three years, the kid has been really really good at even strength, and has adapted well to playing center, AND this year in particular has shown both a fantastic work ethic and a strong desire to adapt his game to whatever the situation at hand may be.
So even if he may never end up reaching the level of a truly great 1C, he's made amazing strides this year, and has exceeded my expectations enough that I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next... especially if the franchise can start putting a few good players around him.