kickazz

Passive aggressive much. Nobody is saying Larkin isn't doing well enough. We ALL are saying he's excellent. What we're talking is about is where he stands among the elites. So quit puttin' words in my mouth bruh. Everyone's dissproved your theory (and noticed how you've ignored them) The Berzeench is silent and refuses to engage ya'll xD

Lol had the first blocked shot of the game xD

Checking in- The Dekeyser goal is the hallmark of Blashil coaching style. I like that.

Lol I'm done. No point in engaging further. Larkin is great. Not among the elite, hopefully one day. One of our MVPs. That's what I've concluded in the games played so far.

Your biggest argument for Larkin is +/- stat and you fail to look at other aspects. And when others point out the "points" category, you hypocritically say "points isn't the only determining factor". Your supporting reasons are flawed and you're using dictionary.com to justify elitism in a game in which players are picked by fan voting, one representative per team per division with up to 6 forwards - some of who didn't get in because there's a limit to how many can get in (i.e Crosby). Most of your arguments are flawed - and the amount of fallacies you commit when debating are incredible. You consistently "cherry pick" (fallacy of incomplete evidence) by focusing on the +/- stat as your go-to and ignoring all of the other stats that point against Larkin's true rank among players. You also have straw man arguments (another fallacy) when you interpret that people somehow "dismiss" the +/- stat when in reality they are telling you that it's not the complete picture. It's just part of the picture. Also you're acting a bit childish with your comments (ad hominem) - how do you expect people to take you seriously.

If that's the case then I'd do it. We need a center to replace Datsyuk when he's gone exactly 1.5 years from now. And we need someone of the elite caliber category. Stamkos or Koptar are the possible UFA's I'd hope Holland would (miraculously) land somehow.

That point to prove Larkin is elite doesnt work because : - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy

Dam right! John Scott is the best Left Wing in the league. Top 10 for sure. Weak.

I have a question then. Do we consider Crosby and Ovechkin elite in their rookie years - basically from the get-go? And I mean elite among all players not just looking at the 2005/06 rookies. Because it seems like the general consensus (except Bill) is that Larkin is not elite yet. I'm wondering how people feel about Crosby and Ovechkin in their rookie years. Would you have labelled them as elite their first year? Or "not yet"

Yet you used the plus/minus stat to define Larkin as elite (and point out why other players suck) Cool.

Excellent GDT Lgw!

What a setup and what a finish. /closethread

I agree with this. Part of the reason why a lot of fans end up hating on highly coveted players who end up not doing as well... is because of our own hype.

Also makes me happy that Larkin is in for the all-star game and Eichel or Panarin aren't. All-star game is pretty silly and all but the recognition/publicity Larkin is going to get (while representing the Red Wings) excites me.

My bad I did not read your last sentence where you stated your conclusion on Larkin. I edited my response.

That's exactly what some of us are saying. Larkin might or probably will be elite. The way some coaches have used it, for example Babs where he said, "I expect Kadri to be elite" , he's not exactly declaring Kadri to be elite. A coach expects a lot of things, makes sense to me, he wants his center to aim higher and strive to be the best. It's just standard to grade players. "Elite" is just a common verbal usage for players that are regarded as the best in the league. It's not necessarily top 3. It could be top 20. Maybe top 30. There's hundreds of players out there. For instance this article - http://www.defendingbigd.com/2015/4/8/8365051/dallas-stars-tyler-seguin-jamie-benn-sidney-crosby-alex-ovechkin-patrick-kane-points-goals That's an analysis of "elite" offensive players. It's a list of top players and looking at where Seguin and Benn fit in there. Seguin is only now in the conversation of being among the elite. Larkin might get an article like that from the media down the road.

Rookie season imo shouldn't be an indicating factor since the league has yet to figure you out. Nyquist scored like 28 goals in his 50 something game campaign (first "full" season") but his goal scoring per game played ratio has dropped since then. What's to say the same doesn't happen to Larkin? You know he likes going for the wrap around (i.e it's becoming more obvious). Come next year, most goalies will anticipate it. Just wait and see in my opinion. I think he'll be a great player, and maybe elite one day but it's too early to judge. For now we can all agree that he's one of our best.

Unfortunately with Marchenko being the odd man out (since he's the only one with the-two way contract), the Wings will be down another right handed D-man. The pairings will be pretty damn "left heavy" aside from Green. We go from 4 lefties and 2 rightys to 5 lefties and 1 righty. And I'm pretty sure our defense got a lot better when we had a bit more balance (from october onwards)

He wasn't snubbed. I was giving you media language and sarcasm. He simply hasn't played like an all-star. And didn't get a spot. I think that's the first main reason. Additionally , it's not like he's been that great in the all-star games anyway. 2nd reason I think is the league has guys like Toews and Kane to promote themselves now, they don't need to hang on to Crosby. He'd probably much rather sit out anyway. Crosby will be Crosby but when there's other guys up and coming as the canadian/american faces of hockey, Crosby can get a break.

I'm actually not at all surprised that Larkin's picked for the all star game to represent the Wings. Everyone else on our roster has been either below expectations or only "decent". Larkin has exceeded all expectations of the organization. The only other players that could even be thought of being picked might have been Mrazek or Zetterberg. Zetterberg's too "old" and the guy always dropped out of the all star games (don't blame him). Disappointed that Mrazek wasn't picked but with the way Schneider, Holtby, Luongo have been playing, it's tough competition. Also just wanted to point out that Sidney Crosby - the supposed best player in the world (as some people still hang on to that old tale) has been snubbed from the all-star game. But for some reason Jonathan Toews (who is having one of the worst seasons) gets picked >.>

Never have never will the person below me loves spicy food.

Comcast 2015/16 version of Zetterberg or Datsyuk

The Red Wings have have fans all over the world for decades. It really says something about them.

Lol what is this comment. I'm guessing whatever happens won't be before trade deadline and I haven't heard Blash request for anything. Last year Babs had needs. Not sure what Blash has in mind to recruit.