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HYPE! The chicago blackhawks sucks!

The only thing that's changed for me with Larkin is that I no longer value him as untouchable. Still an amazing player, and you'd have to send me a lot of exactly what I want to get him out of my hands, but yeah I think for the right package I could be persuaded. Still think Larkin can be a 90 pt center if we put Lafreniere on his wing.

Hot take/Real talk: This generally isn't a tournament for 17 year olds, so any good they do should be applauded and any "oof" moments should taken with a grain of salt. I get why we as hockey fans put a lot of stock in these international tourneys, but I've always felt like a lot of people overdo it. Elias Pettersson finished his draft season WJC-20 with 1 point through 6 games. Jesse Puljujarvi finished his draft season WJC-20 with 17 points through 7 games. Hockey is dumb. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, FWIW, I would say Larkin deserves some credit for the big season Bertuzzi is having (currently on pace for 60 points), as the two of them have been linemates for most of the season. If you put Lafreniere on Larkin's wing next season, a lot of people who are currently down on Larkin will probably be singing his praises. I'm not saying that as a pointed jab at any fans; rather, I'm saying plants need water and sunshine and love.

HYPE! LGRW!

with the way SY is approaching things for us so far, it might not be too far fetched to start believing Seider as captain is a possibility. Especially if there is truth in the Larkin rumors https://www.nhl.com/redwings/news/seider-leading-team-germany-at-world-junior-championship/c-313429978

I'll admit that I'm not feeling the "I can't imagine where this team would be without Larkin" vibe like I was last season. But, I mean, yeah. We all know the situation. If we're moving Larkin, it's for a huge return, e.g. Dante Fabbro + Philip Tomasino + NSH's 2020 1st (unprotected). And even then, I'm not sure I'd pull the trigger, as we'd be trading a proven 1C for three maybes. How many teams would be willing to pay that kind of price for Larkin? I reckon not many, if any. Because Larkin means more to a historically awful bottom-barrel team like ours than he does to a team that isn't a flaming trainwreck. Eh, I dunno. I think I'd rather see Yzerman make some aggressive moves around our top young talent. If we're getting Lafreniere, who should be ready to be a very good NHLer next season, Yzerman should put this team in a position to make the 2021 playoffs. If we're getting anyone not named Lafreniere with our first pick, Yzerman should be targeting the 2022 playoffs. (I'm not sure any of Byfield, Stutzle, Raymond, Holtz, Perfetti, Lundell will be ready to be a very good NHLer next season.)

I was gonna say something along the lines of "You're allowed to win this one, boys. Go nuts," but then I remembered this is an NBC broadcast, so... On the other hand, the Titans ended the Patriots' season, so anything's possible.

Even if Larkin made the comments jokingly, Burke is 100% in the right to criticize him. Larkin is 23 and isnt going to the playoffs. He doesnt need the time off, he wants the time off... cause hes lazy and he sucks. The team being bad does not earn u time off. In fact it earns u the exact opposite. This entire team should be bag skated every day of the all star break.

I honestly really don't care about personal grades since this team simply sucks. As far as I'm concerned anybody on this current roster is up for sale at the trade deadline for the right return.

TBH, this season hasn't really changed my opinion of him; I still think he's a solid-not-spectacular 1C. *Ideally*, we find a gamebreaking powerhouse 1C and Larkin slots in at 2C. So, in that sense, I agree that we have a hole at 1C in that we don't have a Nathan MacKinnon. But I dunno that we *need* a Nathan MacKinnon. Would be awesome to have one, but if Larkin can become something akin to Ryan O'Reilly, I'm more than ok with that. I think it's worth pointing out that Larkin's basically our only serviceable top-six centerman this season. Nielsen's a ghost. Filppula's a bottom-six centerman. Glendening is Glendening. So Larkin's in tough this season. I'd like to see him do a better job at rising to the occasion, I guess, but it is what it is. No big deal (imo).

...and Stutzel and Raymond rose.

So I;m watching the Rangers and Canucks tonight and during the second intermission they bring up Larkin being asked about his thoughts on it and the competition that surrounds it. He says "Please don't vote" with a smile. Then he basically says he'd rather have the days off and that there are other guys that are more deserving than he is. I don't see a problem with that. He makes a good point. But then 'ol Brian Burke call Dylan "stupid" and says that he should have consideration for the NHL and it's corporate partners. He goes on to equate this fan vote thing with the "honor" of being selected as an all star. "If you get voted in, get on a plane and keep your mouth shut". Is Burke trying to fill the void left by Don Cherry's absence? I mean, you can't blame Larkin. Playing every night on this team has to be a load, Who wouldn't want to squeeze out a few extra days off?