With his comments in Traverse City, the Red Wing captain established a standard of focus and intensity for the fast-approaching season
With his comments in Traverse City, the Red Wing captain established a standard of focus and intensity for the fast-approaching season
Dylan Larkin is by now the only Detroit Red Wing left from the roster general manager Steve Yzerman inherited from his predecessor Ken Holland, the only Red Wing left from the last Detroit team to crack the playoffs, and of course, Larkin is the Red Wings' captain. In his comments from training camp in Traverse City, the 28-year-old from Waterford established the standard for his team's coming season, stemming from the sting of last spring's disappointment.
"In April, we all bought in," Larkin said, fielding a question about lessons from the near miss. "Guys playing through injuries, guys laying it all out there, the focus when we went on the road within the team. There were some guys that didn't have that, and that was addressed in the offseason, and we've got a ton of guys that are committed. All of the guys that are here are committed."
Detroit is anything but an odds-on favorite to realize its postseason ambition. Instead, most prognosticators perceive a playoff berth as a near impossibility. However, in his comments, Larkin makes plain his own standard for the coming year, and as has been the case for nigh his entire career, it's a standard for the rest of the Red Wings to follow.
To Larkin, there can be no alternative to collective buy-in, because of course, for Detroit to achieve its ambition of defensive tightening, such buy-in will be essential. And of course, it's hard to ignore the nugget in Larkin's comments that some players didn't buy in, and "that was addressed." It seems in that sentiment we have the shadow of an explanation for a certain trade that sent out a veteran defenseman for a bafflingly scant return and why a certain winger fell out of favor by the end of his time with the team and wound up signing for under $1 million as a UFA.
On the most recent episode of The Silky Mitten State, Connor Earegood and I discussed those comments. You can check out a sample of our conversation in the featured video above, then listen to the full show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts:
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