MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article regarding Dylan Larkin’s high likelihood of making his preseason debut vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/WWJ 950 AM):
“You obviously go through a period of time with no contact and then we had him initiate contact and then contact was initiated on him, but when he knew it was coming, so you kind of work your way into it,” [coach Jeff] Blashill said. “So, you got to go from there into full (contact) and part of full is those battles. One of his good attributes is he’s really strong, so he’s got to use his body to win pucks, and if he doesn’t use his body to win pucks, he won’t have the puck as much. He’s got to get back to playing normal in those circumstances.
“The reason I want to play him in preseason games is to prepare him so when we play Tampa (regular season opener on Oct. 14), he’s not feeling his way into the game, he’s going all-out. The quicker he can get there the better.”
Larkin will start on a line with Filip Zadina and Lucas Raymond and his minutes won’t be restricted.
“You don’t want to play somebody 25 minutes as a forward in a preseason game but in terms of easing into it, you can’t look at it that way at all,” Blashill said. “If he wasn’t cleared to play, he wouldn’t play him, so he’s got to go full-out and get used to the bumps and grinding he’s going to get through the season.”
Continued with talk about Lucas Raymond and Filip Zadina’s performance-related potential…
