I think a fair part of that is just where the Wings are in their rebuild. the Wings have focused on bigger guys who can/do play a hard, grinding game. Smith, Pope, Svechnikov, and Rasmussen can all go out and play that game. Larkin's game can fit that mold. They seem to really want to see Mantha add more of it. On the backend, I think they see guys like Lindstrom, McIsaac, and Hronek as guys who not only have some skill but also some jam.
It might seem a bit off kilter with where a lot of the league seems to be right now, but I think the Wings are definitely trying to put together a larger, rougher team that moves well and wears teams down. TBH, the possible make-up reminds me more of the first two Cup teams, who were a pretty darn rough group. I think folks forget how hard those teams were to play against and how much teams hated playing Shanny, Mac, Maltby, LaPointe, Holmstrom, Sandstrom (for one playoff run anyway), etc. all night.