How good is Larkin?

KJoe88

Forever Lost.
May 18, 2012
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Trenton, MI
He’s simply put, an excellent 1C.

Wings fans are lucky to have him. It’s been great seeing him surpass expectations
 

SniperOnTheWing

Registered User
Apr 28, 2017
1,966
2,798
Would love to see what he could do with one or two dynamic scoring wingers on his line and a little more PP time. Point per game or better.
 

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
40,957
11,577
Ft. Myers, FL
Ya, not sure how I let that one through. Just cause I'm a stickler for an even 20, I'll throw Ryan O'Reilly in there in his place.

Larkin in the last couple weeks has shut down the big Colorado line 5 on 5, Kucherov's point streak died on his watch and now he basically controlled the Leafs big one two punch when he was out there. I think someone pointed out on our board he was 12-2 in danger chances against them tonight. Larkin is becoming Bergeron in a hurry, he has taken massive steps the last two years. He is relentless and his consistency and will to win is really impressive to watch on a night to night basis this year.

I don't think we get this if Zetterberg was still around, but he has really taken the responsibility of it being his team and embraced it. Impressive out of a 22 year old, though on draft night they lauded his leadership skills. I still think Larkin has clearly outkicked his coverage in terms of his ceiling. He has been exceptional since the last all-star break more often than not.
 

Morlu

Registered User
Nov 4, 2011
2,772
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He’s simply put, an excellent 1C.

Wings fans are lucky to have him. It’s been great seeing him surpass expectations

This nails it, He's great. Maybe 10-15 Centres I'd take over him, but he's definitely a #1. Anyone who says otherwise is trolling. He may be one of the most underrated centres based on his teams performance.
 

KJoe88

Forever Lost.
May 18, 2012
6,985
1,278
Trenton, MI
This nails it, He's great. Maybe 10-15 Centres I'd take over him, but he's definitely a #1. Anyone who says otherwise is trolling. He may be one of the most underrated centres based on his teams performance.

This. He’s not the McDavid’s or the Crosby’s of the league, but he’s a good enough 1C that can lead any team to a cup. Won’t be flashy, but amazingly steady and smart.

Bergeron/Toews type that will outwork many matchups as he did against the TML. Better than the Kadri’s and Turris’
 

Albus Dumbledore

Master of Death
Mar 28, 2015
9,007
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This. He’s not the McDavid’s or the Crosby’s of the league, but he’s a good enough 1C that can lead any team to a cup. Won’t be flashy, but amazingly steady and smart.

Bergeron/Toews type that will outwork many matchups as he did against the TML. Better than the Kadri’s and Turris’
yeah i dont see how hes in the turris and kadri tier that would be a bad take.
His skillset alone makes him better then them.
 

CauZuki

Registered User
Feb 19, 2008
12,289
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He's OP in NHL 19 , always ends up 92-93 overall (or am I thinking about Mantha?) :sarcasm:
 

TheOtherOne

Registered User
Jan 2, 2010
8,265
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For reference, here is his draft year:
1 Ekblad (D) Panthers
2 Reinhart (C) Sabres
3 Draisaitl (C) Oilers
4 Bennet (C) Flames
5 Dal Colle (LW) Islanders
6 Virtanen (RW) Canucks
7 Fleury (D) Hurricanes
8 Nylander (C/RW) Leafs
9 Ehlers (LW) Jets
10 Ritchie (LW) Ducks
11 Fiala (LW) Predators
12 Perlini (LW) Coyotes
13 Vrana (LW/RW) Capitals
14 Honka (D) Stars
15 Larkin (C) Wings

How many of those 14 teams want a do-over?
 

Kamiccolo

Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.
Aug 30, 2011
26,828
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Hes becoming a great match up center, he might not score like some other high end 1Cs but when they play against him those other top Cs usually wont have a great night. Larkin is pretty relentless.

Matthews has been on a tear and Tavares is an elite center. With 2 top 6 players missing Larkin absolutely dominated them tonight, had a really nice assist and the game winning goal off a really bad turnover that he forced on Tavares with a really nice defensive play. Larkin is going a bit under the radar because his offensive numbers are really good but not eye popping.

To be fair the Leafs completely played like shit last night. They have been looking as if they believe they've already won the cup for about 2 weeks with a lack of effort and expecting their talent to win them games (once again last night they played what, 15 minutes all game and managed to get the game to OT after being down 4-1?).

I wouldn't try and use last night as any justification. There have been many times they have played and Larkin had no impact on slowing those guys down. Team is for sure in a slump right now and honestly if Sparks could make a save the team likely would have won.
 

newfy

Registered User
Jul 28, 2010
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To be fair the Leafs completely played like **** last night. They have been looking as if they believe they've already won the cup for about 2 weeks with a lack of effort and expecting their talent to win them games (once again last night they played what, 15 minutes all game and managed to get the game to OT after being down 4-1?).

I wouldn't try and use last night as any justification. There have been many times they have played and Larkin had no impact on slowing those guys down. Team is for sure in a slump right now and honestly if Sparks could make a save the team likely would have won.

Yeah but did they play like shit last night because their top 2 centers got dominated? Every other line on Detroit basically lost their match ups but Larkin was dominant. Larkin went 20-6 in scoring chances for/against and 13-2 in high danger corsi for/against. He made Tavares look silly in OT too. If SParks could make a save they might've won but it would be because theyre lucky to have the depth that they do. I would bet that they havent actually got dominated that bad this season to date.

They havent played many other times this year where Larkin had no impact, they played once this season. I'm not worried about last year or the year before, Larkin has obviously developed since then. Last time the Leafs and Wings played this season Larkin basically came out even with the Toronto centers which is a win for him. They had a lot of points but especially Matthews wasnt noticeable at even strength. He did damage on the PP.

Larkin also came out pretty evenly matched against Tampa and Colorado this week. It isnt like this is a one time game he did this to Toronto, hes been pretty consistent with it. People will notice soon enough
 

Kamiccolo

Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.
Aug 30, 2011
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Undisclosed research facility
Yeah but did they play like **** last night because their top 2 centers got dominated? Every other line on Detroit basically lost their match ups but Larkin was dominant. Larkin went 20-6 in scoring chances for/against and 13-2 in high danger corsi for/against. He made Tavares look silly in OT too. If SParks could make a save they might've won but it would be because theyre lucky to have the depth that they do. I would bet that they havent actually got dominated that bad this season to date.

They havent played many other times this year where Larkin had no impact, they played once this season. I'm not worried about last year or the year before, Larkin has obviously developed since then. Last time the Leafs and Wings played this season Larkin basically came out even with the Toronto centers which is a win for him. They had a lot of points but especially Matthews wasnt noticeable at even strength. He did damage on the PP.

Larkin also came out pretty evenly matched against Tampa and Colorado this week. It isnt like this is a one time game he did this to Toronto, hes been pretty consistent with it. People will notice soon enough

I am trying to say that they looked like shit the past two weeks and specifically the last 3 games have looked disinterested. Not only was half the team not battling for pucks they were lose defensively AND they lacked overall effort. Wings were skating circles around them and at a point were dominating the team.

Then Tavares scored in the third and the team decided they would play and scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes to tie it up and in that time Detroit had what, 1 or 2 shots?

It's a roster issue is what I am saying. Larkin was good, not trying to say he is a bad player. I am trying to say that the Leafs looked like shit for a while and it continued this game.

They can skill their way into points and it's going to bite them hard. They need a strong wakeup call and a lot of Leaf fans were hoping Detroit blew them out last night once it was 4-1 so maybe they would play with effort.

Instead we'll have to watch them get run over by Boston on the weekend for the message to sink. The team does this like every few months their ego's get a bit too big. It's their biggest flaw and the reason they lost last year in the playoffs. Lack of urgency because they know they can score in bunches quickly so why play a full 60 when 20 get's it done most of the time?
 

34

Registered User
Mar 26, 2010
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Very impressive. I have been saying this all season. Detroit has a good one there.
 

newfy

Registered User
Jul 28, 2010
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I am trying to say that they looked like **** the past two weeks and specifically the last 3 games have looked disinterested. Not only was half the team not battling for pucks they were lose defensively AND they lacked overall effort. Wings were skating circles around them and at a point were dominating the team.

Then Tavares scored in the third and the team decided they would play and scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes to tie it up and in that time Detroit had what, 1 or 2 shots?

It's a roster issue is what I am saying. Larkin was good, not trying to say he is a bad player. I am trying to say that the Leafs looked like **** for a while and it continued this game.

They can skill their way into points and it's going to bite them hard. They need a strong wakeup call and a lot of Leaf fans were hoping Detroit blew them out last night once it was 4-1 so maybe they would play with effort.

Instead we'll have to watch them get run over by Boston on the weekend for the message to sink. The team does this like every few months their ego's get a bit too big. It's their biggest flaw and the reason they lost last year in the playoffs. Lack of urgency because they know they can score in bunches quickly so why play a full 60 when 20 get's it done most of the time?

And what I'm saying is that the rest of Detroits roster except Larkin pretty much lost their match up last night when you look at it. So I'm not so sure it was the team looking disinterested issue like you say it was. Maybe Tavares/Matthews were disinterested but I dont really buy that for Tavares, he was working hard and cleaned up on face offs
 
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ArGarBarGar

What do we want!? Unfair!
Sep 8, 2008
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To be fair the Leafs completely played like **** last night. They have been looking as if they believe they've already won the cup for about 2 weeks with a lack of effort and expecting their talent to win them games (once again last night they played what, 15 minutes all game and managed to get the game to OT after being down 4-1?).

I wouldn't try and use last night as any justification. There have been many times they have played and Larkin had no impact on slowing those guys down. Team is for sure in a slump right now and honestly if Sparks could make a save the team likely would have won.
This type of play from Larkin isn't specific to last night, so while the Leafs may have been a few steps behind what is expected of them, Larkin being competitive and "winning" matchups isn't something new. It is more impressive that he is doing this when there isn't a single star on the roster and the defense is both garbage and injured.
 

TheTotalPackage

Registered User
Sep 14, 2006
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He definitely impressed me last night. Seeing him live gave it a whole new perspective.

That OT goal was N-A-S-T-Y. :amazed:
 

absolute garbage

Registered User
Jan 22, 2006
4,399
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For reference, here is his draft year:
1 Ekblad (D) Panthers
2 Reinhart (C) Sabres
3 Draisaitl (C) Oilers
4 Bennet (C) Flames
5 Dal Colle (LW) Islanders
6 Virtanen (RW) Canucks
7 Fleury (D) Hurricanes
8 Nylander (C/RW) Leafs
9 Ehlers (LW) Jets
10 Ritchie (LW) Ducks
11 Fiala (LW) Predators
12 Perlini (LW) Coyotes
13 Vrana (LW/RW) Capitals
14 Honka (D) Stars
15 Larkin (C) Wings

How many of those 14 teams want a do-over?
Not sure if I'd take anyone here over Larkin. Nylander and Draisaitl are the only ones you could make an argument about. Add in their current contracts and it's Larkin easily.
 

SuperScript29

Registered User
Nov 17, 2017
2,069
1,673
He's a low end 1st line center :D

Anyways, I think he's becoming more like a Zetterberg/Bergeron/Toews type of player, he will not put up Art numbers, but 70-80 points and playing superb two-way hockey is what I think he's capable of.
 
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LarKing

Registered User
Sep 2, 2012
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I still think he’s going to get continue to get better too. I remember his rookie year they interviewed him and he said he’s never going to be satisfied and wants to be the best player in the league. He’ll probably never get there, but he reminds me of Toews when he entered the league. Drive is so unquestionable.
 

The Winter Soldier

Registered User
Apr 4, 2011
70,803
21,006
Always liked Larkin. Last night's game really illustrated how good he is, and yes he is under the radar. When he was on the ice, it just seemed like the Red Wings were better.

Right now, 6.1M per is looking good for the Red Wings in light of recent comparable signings.

Terrific player and contract. All 31 teams in the NHL would love a Dylan Larkin.
 
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Ezekial

Cheap Pizza, Bad Hockey
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Nov 22, 2015
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I guess this is a good time/place to drop this Larkin quote from about 6 weeks ago

“It’s a tough task but I do think there is an opportunity there to capitalize on offense,” Larkin said. “These top lines, they don’t want to play defense, they want an easy night and they want how we were feeling in the first with pucks bouncing and you’re flying on rushes. If you play below the puck and you’re above people, like Blash says all the time, and maybe it’s been four years where he’s been beating it on me and I’m just realizing it now — it's the right way. And these players don’t want to play like that, so there is opportunity there playing against these guys where you are going to be in the offensive zone and playing with the puck a lot.”
 

Hatter of the Beach

I’m the real hero
Jun 26, 2017
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He’s simply put, an excellent 1C.

Wings fans are lucky to have him. It’s been great seeing him surpass expectations

He’s a 1C, but excellent to me means a Crosby, Mcdavid, Matthewsesque player. I doubt Larkin will ever spend more than a year or two as a top 15 center.

I like Larkin, but if he’s your number one C youre going to need some depth and or a star winger to be anything more than a team that loses in the first round.

He is a mid range 1 center, and ideally would be an EXCELLENT 2nd line center to a team with elite talent.
 

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