marcaractac

How constructive

I'm not concerned about Larkin at all. I do cross my fingers and toes that Veleno can become a Larkin-calibre center himself some day.

We're a good AHL goalie away from enjoying a nice Griffins playoff run.

Bergeron was in a very similar place as Larkin at 23 years old. Coming off a couple almost point per game seasons, then came 39 points in 64 games. He continued to score at about the same rate as Larkin right now for a couple more seasons while transitioning into a 2-way beast. He topped out at about 0.75-0.8 points per game until he turned 31 years old, which is when he consistently hit 1.0 ppg or above. Of course, that lines up nicely with his beast mode Pastrnak years. He won a cup with Boston, as their #1 centre, I might add, scoring at 0.71 ppg that season. NOBODY argued that he was not a legit #1C. Larkin is scoring at 0.65 ppg right now, while refining his defensive game. No, this is not me saying Larkin is guaranteed gonna be the next Bergeron. But that's clearly the type of player he himself and the Red Wings organization want him to be, regardless opf if he hits those highs or not. But for those acting as if he'll never be more than a #2C based on this season, get over yourselves. He's 23.

Another aspect is the lack of secondary scoring this season. We have none. All teams have to do to keep the Wings off of the scoreboard is to zero in on Larkin. That's a lot of s*** for a 23 year old player to deal with. I think he has been handling it pretty well. This is another big change from last season, as we had AA tearing it up elsewhere in the lineup. Once we have secondary scoring on a regular basis, opponents have more to worry about. That opens up more opportunities for Larkin. This is one of many reasons why I think he'll be fine.

Stevie clearly wants strong 2-way centers. Luckily for Larkin, he still has a couple of seasons to find out if his scoring as a two-way center will have him as a 1C or 2C. Luckily he isn't getting paid like a 1C. I'd hate to see the s*** show in these forums if he was.

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There was a recent interview he did where he specifically mentioned an added focus on defense this season. Alluded to a convo with Yzerman about it. Focus on d now, the points will come, yada yada. He has been better lately, so perhaps he'll finish the season strong. Leadership no doubt looks worse. Scoring depth is a lot worse. PP is worse. Mantha missing a lot of time, despite being a beast when he was playing. Losing Kronwall hurt this team a lot more than any of us thought. He was solid in his last couple seasons after that one real bad year. Next season, imo, will tell a lot more about Larkin in terms of 1C or 2C than this season. He needs to finish strong and carry that into next year. My guess is he'll also look great again in the World Championships when he isn't the only center for our opponents to target.

It's wishful thinking to see 3-5 guys moved this deadline. Nobody is taking that Nielsen contract. Same with Abby. Howard has been a disaster this season. MAYBE someone trades a low pick for Green to have some depth for as run. Helm and AA are probably the only two players of value we have. Even then, Helm may not have said value until next season when he is on an expiring deal. Stevie will do what he can, but man, there is not much there in hopes of getting anything back outside of AA. Even then I think you wait until summer to trade him, unless the right offer comes along now like the haul we got for Tatar,

The best 1C's do both. We know Larkin can do either or at this point. Let's just hope he can put that together. It's pretty clear his focus on defense this year is what has impacted his scoring. So if right now Larkin is a great 2C with the potential to become a legit 1C, I'll take it. As I said, he's had HUGE responsibility thrust into him very early. In such a sink or swim situation, he certainly hasn't sunk. Has he struggled? Sure. Most players his age in that role would. I'll be concerned if he struggles as much next season. But for the time being, he is showing signs of heating up offensively again. I do, however, agree that the team needs an Alfredsson-type of veteran to help out. We've needed that since Hank hung them up. I think Larkin has done well considering he's had no such help. The great sign is that he hasn't given up. The guy is still working his ass off to improve. So I strongly disagree with the idea that he is drowning. He's fighting through it and is starting to get rewarded for it.

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For Stevie, I think it's all about seeing what kind of character is in the locker room this season. On the bright side, Lafreniere has a reputation for being a great locker room presence. I do hate that Abby still gets an A

With Yzerman stepping in, I don't think it's all that far fetched for Stevie to have had chat with Larkin about focusing more on defense this year, and ensuring him that the points will come. As for the Datsyuk and Zetterberg comparisons, Larkin was also thrust into the 1C role at a much younger age. Even when Dats and Hank were the go to guys, they had each other to lean on. Larkin is seeing more responsibility at a younger age, and it's not like he is s***ting the bed at it. He is having growing pains, but it would be insane to not expect that. The guy has the skill set, IQ, and work ethic to keep getting better. So I have no doubt he'll do so.

People always complain about how cookie-cutter/generic hockey players media responses are. This is why. They crack a joke, or show any sort of personality, someone s***s on them for it.

I'm still rotted that the team kept playing him leading up to the deadline a couple years back. We all but had another first rounder in the bag.

Ideally at this point in his career, he would be playing center on the second line. Despite some struggles this season, he has handled being thrust into the 1C role fairly decent. Having said that, at his age, there is no reason he can't further grow and become a legitimate #1 center. I'm not saying he'll be the next Bergeron, as Bergeron is the best two-way center in the game. Getting 75% of the way there would be lovely. As for this whole Nielsen/Zadina thing, Nielsen is in his mid-30s. He is what he is, and will only further decline at this point. Nobody is going to expect any sort of resurgence. Zadina is 20 years old with ~half an NHL season under his belt, and is consistently showing improvement. It's okay for people to be excited about that. Nothing about his current play suggests bust, at this point. For the record, I wish we had Hughes. But we don't. So now I'm just gonna hope for the best with what we have, instead of being insufferable about it.

This. I do hope Cholowski figures it out, as he is young enough to do so. He was thrust into the NHL way too soon anyway. We're lucky to have gotten Hronek out of that trade with Arizona, as that prevents us from having lost said trade. Hoping Ras picks up where he left off on his return. He was a beast and we could use him down the middle next season, likely the 3rd line starting off. Between him and Veleno I have no doubt we will eventually have a second line center (assuming we draft wing or D with this years #1 pick). Veleno is further away sure, but his WJC performance was promising. He just needs to take that and have a strong second half in GR. Hirose is pretty soft, but should be fine as a middle 6 winger at some point. Terry and Tangradi are not NHLers and never will be. They suck. All hail King Seider.

Bergeron on pace for 86 points, actually J Staal is on pace for 32 points. Therefore according to maths, Larkin is closer to Bergeron than Staal* *this does not mean I think Larkin is a Bergeron calibre center

He had a very "Thomas McCollum" WJC

Not to mention that he loves to hit, and backchecks like a beast.

Us nerd kids get to work in a nice office where we can watch World Junior Hockey during work! Oh hell yes

Fins are always super underrated in these tournaments, they play a hell of a team game despite not having many big names. Did the same to Canada last year.