Red Wings in Review: More is Needed From Larkin

Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

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(Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of a player-by-player analysis of the Detroit Red Wings’ roster for the 2025-26 season. The emphasis is on how each player performed and their future in the organization.)

Dylan Larkin

Age: 29, turns 30 in July.

Contract Status: Signed through the 2029-30 season.

Last season’s contributions: Second on the team in goals with 34 goals; third on the team in scoring with 67 points in 74 games

Grade: B

Past

Dylan Larkin will always be the face of the team for this generation of Detroit Red Wings fans. And that is a status arriving as a double-edged sword.

The club captain, Larkin, is the only player on the current team who has played in a Stanley Cup game in a Red Wings jersey. He’s also been the lone ever-present through this past decade of Detroit playoff failure.

“Dylan does a lot of good things,” Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman said. “We ask a lot from him.”

Larkin talks about wanting to be part of the solution that finally gets this team back into the NHL postseason. Some in the team’s fanbase seek to paint him as part of the problem, insisting he’s not a legit No. 1 NHL center.

That is a patently unfair analysis.

No, Larkin isn’t Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, or Sidney Crosby. But no matter what path you choose to navigate in your assessment – traditional stats, analytics – Larkin generally grades out in the top third in most every category.

Present

Larkin reached the 30-goal plateau for the fifth season in a row in 2025-26, and the sixth time in his NHL career. He netted a career-best 34 goals. He was also second-best on the team at the faceoff dot, winning 52.9% of his draws.

That was the good news.

On the other hand, Larkin wound up 78th in the NHL with just 42 even-strength points. Detroit was 30th in the NHL in 5-on-5 scoring, and Larkin was the poster boy for this ailment.

“Part of that’s on me as captain of the team,” Larkin said. “As a forward that plays a driving game, I should probably have been out there more and driving the play early in games to set the tone for a team. And that sets a mindset that would go through the entire lineup.”

Future

Yzerman endured plenty of heartbreak as the Red Wings’ captain. He battled through it, grew as a player, and eventually led the team to several Stanley Cups.

He thinks Larkin’s own struggles can only make him stronger if he’s willing to embrace that challenge.

“I think these experiences for Dylan as the captain, these are all experiences that are going to make him – if he’s open-minded and is determined, which I believe he is – he’s going to improve and become better,” Yzerman said. “As this team improves, as we go through these experiences, I think Dylan will continue to improve as a leader.”

Larkin makes it abundantly clear that wearing the Winged Wheel means the world to him. He’s in this for the long haul.

“When I signed an eight-year deal (in 2023 to remain with the Red Wings), I knew that we had work to do,” Larkin said. “I knew that we weren’t going to win the Stanley Cup the next day, but I wanted to be here.

“I want to be here to help this team in any way I can to win the Stanley Cup.”

Current contract: $8.7 million AAV for the next four seasons. Will become a UFA in 2031.

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