The Detroit News’s John Niyo is in Traverse City for training camp, and he’s posted an article in which he discusses the relationship between the Red Wings’ new coach and their captain, Dylan Larkin:
[Coach Derek] Lalonde says he finds this situation “very similar” to what he and [Steve] Yzerman both saw in Tampa, where Steven Stamkos has been the captain for several years now.
“Everyone has a captain,” Lalonde said. “But it takes time to have that ‘true’ captain, and I think we have one here. … Now we can build that leadership group around him.”
[David] Perron and [Andrew] Copp figure to be part of that group, especially since last year’s alternate captains — Danny DeKeyser and Marc Staal — have moved on. But Larkin has learned plenty on the job shouldering the load these last two seasons, coming out of a pandemic and the painful stages of a rebuild at the same time.
“But I think he’s just getting more and more comfortable with the role,” said Yzerman, who set the standard in Detroit as the longest-serving captain in NHL history. “And the one thing I’ve always encouraged him to do is, make sure to be yourself. Don’t try to be Nick (Lidstrom) or Henrik or any of us in the past. Just be yourself.
“He has a tremendous work ethic, he cares about his teammates, he cares about the team. And I think with each year, you kind of figure the role out — where you need to be, when you need to be there, when you need to address something, when you need to let things slide. So I think just experience is making him more comfortable in the role.”
