This afternoon, the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton wonders aloud whether Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, who turns 28 this July 30th, will be able to pass Mike Modano someday and become the NHL’s highest-scoring Michigan-born player:
As of this writing (Tuesday, July 16, 2024), Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin (of Waterford, MI) is the highest scoring active NHL player born in the state of Michigan, with 506 career points in 652 games played. He ranks 10th all-time in the category, with long-time Dallas Star and former Red Wing Mike Modano (of Livonia) the all-time leader at 1374 career points in 1499 games played. Turning 28 at the end of the month, is there time for Larkin to catch up?
It would take 879 points for Larkin to take over the top spot from Modano, which is to say double his current total. In other words, it would be no small feat, though incremental gains up the list are well within reach. If Larkin matched last season’s 69 points (earned in only 68 games), he would climb to seventh on the list, jumping ahead of Ryan Kesler (also of Livonia) and behind Red Wings legend David Legwand (born in Detroit, scorer of 618 NHL points).
Ha ha, the old, “Red Wings legend” line.
However, compounding the challenge is the looming presence of Larkin’s fellow University of Michigan alum Kyle Connor (of Clinton Township). Connor has 485 points in 531 games, ranking 11th in the all-time state scoring leaderboard, and is a credible threat to leap past the Red Wing captain before their two career are done. Meanwhile, Larkin’s current Detroit teammate Alex DeBrincat (of Farmington Hills), sits at 15th with 440 points in 532 games played.
If we switch our metric from points to goals, the list changes a bit. Modano remains first with 561, but among active players, it then goes Connor (243), DeBrincat (214), Larkin (212).
Continued; as we all know, health is everything, and Larkin appears to be poised to play a long career, but he’s going to have to do a better job of avoiding the injury bug in order to really challenge Modano and hold his own among his peers.
Whether that involves the Red Wings acquiring somebody to ride shotgun on Larkin’s line is uncertain at this point.
