Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin spoke with NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika during the NHL’s Media Tour today. Here’s a snippet of their conversation, addressing the roster changes made this summer, and his expectations for the upcoming season:
“As guys have started to come into town and get on the ice, I see size — minus Alex [DeBrincat],” Larkin said.
Larkin laughed. DeBrincat is 5-foot-8, a little shorter than, say, [Justin] Holl and [Jeff] Petry, who are 6-3.
“But he makes up for it,” Larkin continued. “But on our back end, there’s some big bodies and big, long sticks. For me, that’s the hardest to play against, when there’s big guys that can move well. I’m really excited. We really shored up our back end, and that’s going to be huge. It’s going to help everyone.”
Larkin said he is cautiously optimistic — cautiously, because he has been excited about offseason moves the past couple of seasons, and the Red Wings still have missed the playoffs. They continue to face a stiff challenge in the stacked Atlantic Division.
But they have improved their point total each season under Yzerman, from 39 to 48 to 74 to 80. After adjusting to first-year coach Derek Lalonde last season, the returning players, at least, are more familiar with how they want to play entering training camp.
“I do believe the past couple years we’ve taken steps,” Larkin said. “I really am excited. But we’ve got to come together. … You’ve got to stay healthy. You’ve got to click at the right time. Can’t go on big slides. So, those are big focuses for us.”
