Larkin Says This is His Best Red Wings Team

Through the long drought that has been the eight-season playoff absence of the Detroit Red Wings, just one player has continued to endure through every heartbreaking moment.

That would be captain Dylan Larkin. He’s become the face of the franchise and all too often, that face was left wearing a forlorned look.

There’s a different hue to Larkin these days, though. He smiles easily and often. There’s a sense – no a virtual certainty in his mind – that this year’s outfit will be the team to finally give his cause to still be smiling come mid April.

Dylan Larkin really has weathered the storm with the Detroit Red Wings pic.twitter.com/N1VJHk5349

— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) February 8, 2025

“A lot better,” Larkin responds to a question about his hope for a positive outcome this season. “A lot better.”

Since changing coaches from Derek Lalonde to Todd McLellan on Dec. 26, the Red Wings are an NHL-best 15-4-1. They’ve moved into a playoff position.

Prior to that development, Larkin admits that he was looking forward to, in fact feeling that the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off couldn’t get here fast enough.

“It was before Christmas,” Larkin explained. “I remember thinking just maybe just trying to get there, like let’s grind, grind mentally to get there and something to look forward to.”

Now, he’s wondering if stopping might be a bad thing for the Wings.

“The way the guys have responded post-Christmas and the way things are going, you almost don’t want it to stop when you get on a roll like this,” Larkin said. “I think the break will be good for guys, but when we’re playing this well, you almost want to keep it going and keep playing.”

Red Wings Larkin Sees Reason For Optimism

Twenty games into McLellan’s tenure, this Detroit turnaround can’t simply be chalked up to the new coach bump. There’s a different feeling about the club, a resiliency and a resourcefulness not witnessed for long stretches of time in past seasons.

“I saw something the other day that, with the (club’s) two seven-game winning streaks, it’s kind of been a tale of two different teams,” Larkin said. “The first one was power play and a few guys really taking charge.

DYLAN LARKIN GOAL ✔️
DOMINIK SHINE FIRST NHL POINT ✔️ pic.twitter.com/KWJfJ9IVCg

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 2, 2025

“And this last seven games, the one we’re on now, it’s been by committee and that feels sustainable. And we’ve been getting unbelievable goaltending and we’ve been wearing teams down.”

He cites the addition of 6-foot-8 Elmer Soderblom to play alongside 6-foot-6 Michael Rasmussen as giving the club a heavy line. They’ve become hard to play against.

“I haven’t been able to say that for too many teams I’ve played on, but with the size, with Elmer coming in and Ras playing well, (and) the size we have on the back end,” Larkin said. “I look at that LA game (4-2 2win). It really felt like we just – it was a fast playoff style game. But we wore them down and that’s a big fast team as well.”