From The Silky Mitten State: The Red Wings struggled during Larkin's injury-induced absence. What do those struggles tell us about Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat?
From The Silky Mitten State: The Red Wings struggled during Larkin's injury-induced absence. What do those struggles tell us about Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat?
As of last Thursday, Dylan Larkin is back in the Red Wing lineup, and Detroit's playoff fortunes have been re-affirmed as a result. However, his eight-game absence, during which the Red Wings won just twice, is nonetheless revelatory with respect to the depth Detroit has touted as its strength all season.
Lucas Raymond assumed a starring role during Larkin's injury, but one area where the Red Wings' increased vulnerability without Larkin manifested was in the team's other two most dangerous scorers, Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane. DeBrincat didn't score and gave just two assists in the eight Larkin-less games, while Kane scored twice and provided five assists in those games.
For DeBrincat, that production is obviously concerning, while for Kane, it isn't entirely meager, but it was also clear that Detroit was a much easier team to match up with for opponents without Larkin. This reality became especially clear on the road, when the Red Wings had less ability to massage those match-ups; the team's 6-3 loss in Pittsburgh on the 17th provided the most obvious example of these struggles.
On the most recent episode of The Silky Mitten State, my co-host Connor Earegood and I discussed this dynamic, considering in particular whether Kane's potential worth as a free agent might change at all based on this latest Larkin-less run. For a sample of that conversation, check out the clip below:
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