How good is Larkin?

[nbwingsfan]

lol

Hes not wrong, although definitely not 4th line C. Hes not better than Stamkos or Point. Im sure someone would play wing though.

 

[LarKing]

He really seems to enjoy getting the game winner. So exciting to see how happy he is afterward. He’s never going to be a super elite player but man I’m more than happy to put the C on him next year.

 

[kuch]

Which of these two randomly selected players would you put in the middle:

Player X:
Faceoffs - 289
FOW% - 48.8
SH FOW% - 33.3

Player Y:
Faceoffs - 593
FOW% - 55.1
SH FOW% - 71.4

More to a player then just faceoff's
Tampa is bad at faceoff's but hey keep on winning

 

[The Winter Soldier]

For his contract at 6.1M he is a very very good when lesser players are payed more close to 7M. For me, he has really taken another step this year. Always impressed by him, and I do notice when he is on the ice, the play of the Wings is exponentially better.

 

[Pavels Dog]

More to a player then just faceoff's
Tampa is bad at faceoff's but hey keep on winning

Yeah but you don’t waste one of the league’s best faceoff guys by putting him on the wing, nor do you waste a player of Larkin’s caliber in the bottom 6. He’d be center and Point would play the wing. Pretty simple to figure out.

 

[mphmiles]

Human highlight reel this season

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Hard to believe 14 players were picked above him. I actually had him higher on my draft board. Top 10.

But in a redraft I can safely say only 1 player right now deserves to go higher. Draisaitl.

I would go 1-3 right now from players picked in the 1st rd.

Pastrnak
Draisaitl
Larkin

Add Point from the 3rd rd as the 4 best players from this draft.

 

[newfy]

That was a pretty sick pass to Hronek today. That assist has him with point(s) in 16 of his last 17 games played. He also broke the red wings record for overtime goals in a season with that nasty goal against Nashville the other night. I know 3 on 3 changes things but to break an original 6 record with the number of all time greats Detroit has had and doing it in half of a season is pretty sweet.

 

[RedHawkDown]

Would make a solid 4C for the Toledo Walleye

 

[WingsMJN2965]

That was a pretty sick pass to Hronek today. That assist has him with point(s) in 16 of his last 17 games played. He also broke the red wings record for overtime goals in a season with that nasty goal against Nashville the other night. I know 3 on 3 changes things but to break an original 6 record with the number of all time greats Detroit has had and doing it in half of a season is pretty sweet.

They were playing 4 on 4 at the time so it's no different than the games of old.

 

[NoName]

Pretty good second-line center. Might make the Maple Leafs' fourth line.

Third. He isn't beating out Matthews or Tavares, but he would indeed be above Kadri at this point. Assuming he doesn't move to the wing.

Hes not wrong, although definitely not 4th line C. Hes not better than Stamkos or Point. Im sure someone would play wing though.

Agreed, Tampa is another team where he would be 3C if no one is moving to the wing (which seems unlikely). Also can add Pittsburgh, Washington and Edmonton to that list. Funny thing is that all those teams aside from Edmonton are considered elite Cup Contenders (and Draisaitl still sometimes gets time with McDavid); being able to roll multiple lines driven by franchise centres is becoming a standard blue-print to success.

Obviously Larkin would still be the 1C on plenty of other teams this season, however (Arizona, Columbus, LA, Minnesota, Montreal, Vegas, Anaheim, Rangers and New Jersey), so he is a true 1C; just some teams have multiple 1Cs.

 

[raymond23]

Idc where he fits on other teams because he's a Red Wing. No point in comparing him, he's a pretty unique player imo.

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

Hard to believe 14 players were picked above him. I actually had him higher on my draft board. Top 10.

But in a redraft I can safely say only 1 player right now deserves to go higher. Draisaitl.

I would go 1-3 right now from players picked in the 1st rd.

Pastrnak
Draisaitl
Larkin

Add Point from the 3rd rd as the 4 best players from this draft.

I’d go

Pasta
Draisaitl
Larkin/Point (too close to call for me without bias imo)

No later than 4th though. Larkin has been in a much worse position the majority of his career than all of them

 

[The Winter Soldier]

2 goal, 3 pts night. He's a hell of a player every time I see him play. 58 pts in 60 games. 6.1M per is looking like a bargain for the Wings.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

He's a very good #2C, Borderline #1C with better wingers around him.

 

[turkleton85]

He's a very good #2C, Borderline #1C with better wingers around him.

really? I don't want to be a fanboy, but larkin is regulary the best player on the ice. He is a 1C for sure, and with his mix of skill, skating and willpower, one of the most dominant players in the league at the moment. impossible to diagnose how much better he'll become, but i would never bet against him

 

[RedWingzz]

Great point about context.

He's as important to Detroit as McDavid is to Edmonton. He'd be a 3 or 4C for the Lightning, but they'd likely put him on a wing instead of moving either Cirelli or Paquette out of the lineup because, again, context matters.

4C????

Have you ever watched him play?

It's hilarious how little credit he gets league wide, and how underrated he is because he plays on Detroit.

 

[TheMule93]

He's a very good #2C, Borderline #1C with better wingers around him.

not sure how someone like you who (presumably) watches larkin a lot can consider him anything less than 1C at this point

 

[Slyfox]

Hes a 1C who will become an elite 1C soon as he improves and his team's talent does as well.

 

[Halak Ness Monster]

Pacing for 78 points, winning 54% of faceoffs at the age of 22 while playing on a mediocre team?

Yeah that's a 1C.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I don't think you can win with him as 1C but he would be very good 2C.

 

[newfy]

I don't think you can win with him as 1C but he would be very good 2C.

Diagree. I dont think you can win with the team Detroi has around him, but once some talent shows up Larkin is the type of player you win with. Hes balls to the wall every shift, works as hard as anyone and is now developing the offense and faceoff skills to go with his two way game.

Best thing about him is his matchup ability. He went head to head with Toews last night and had probably the most dominant game in a wings uniform in the last 5 years. At even strength againt Toews the scoring chances were 16-3 in favour of Larkin. He personally had 6 iHDCF and went 74% on faceoffs. He ended up with 2 goals and an assist. Hes given good number one centers fits all year in the matchup game because of his skating and how hard he works. Toews was an example last night Hes given the Toronto tandem fits all year, hadgood games matched up with Bergeron.

The issue with Larkin I think is that he was drafted 15th, when the wings were on their way down. If he was drafted 3rd or 4th overall and the team was adding high draft picks and adding a tonne of talent all at the same time, his numbers would be even better. Once Zadina gets to Detroit, this years draft pick, Cholowski and Hronek get a year or two under their belts etc. people will wonder why they were sleeping on Larkin for so long

 

[thadd]

He's a viable 1st line center.
Damn good player.
Love that speed.

 

[redwings25]

hes a very good 1c. gonna be the best 2 way c in the league if Bergeron ever slows down

 

[OldCraig71]

Human highlight reel this season

God dammit that was a thing of beauty! I had to watch this 15 times.