Red Wings Draft Rumors: Dylan Larkin The First-Round Target?

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports.

Is Michigan native Dylan Larkin the Detroit Red Wings target in the first-round of the upcoming NHL Draft?

Two of the latest Mock Drafts say yes.

Red Line report were the first to predict the Wings taking the Michigan-born forward at No. 15 overall.

Now, USA Today hockey writer Kevin Allen also projects the Red Wings will use their first-round pick Friday on Larkin.

"“The dependable two-way forward would fit perfectly into Detroit’s puck-possession offense. He’s a good skater.”"

Larkin uses his skating ability to work his way around defenders and to move quickly and easily around the ice. When Larkin has the puck he generally keeps the puck.

The biggest known issue that people have with Larkin is that he lacks a strong offensive upside. He is often compared to other USHL players like Sonny Milano, but the fact of the matter may be that Larkin will be better utilized as a two-way center who may not score a lot of points.

There are however, some scouts out there that disagree with this assumption.

"“Dylan Larkin is a very strong skater, with strong top end speed, very good acceleration, and a great first step. This enables him to be very effective on the forecheck, as well as to gather loose pucks in all three zones of the ice. Larkin also has outstanding edgework and agility and can be extremely elusive. He has good balance and is very difficult to knock off the puck making him very effective in the cycle game and in battles for pucks along the boards. Larkin should only get better as he adds more muscle to his frame and fleshes out his game in the pros.” – Last Word On Sports"

Larkin spent the last two seasons playing for the U.S. National Team. In 26 games, he had 17 goals and nine assists. He had seven goals and seven assists in 37 games during the 2012-13 season.

Live Feed

Flame for Thought

Larkin, who turns 18 on Monday, is committed to play for the University of Michigan next year.

I feel like there is a very strong chance that Larkin finds himself as a member of the Red Wings organization in the near future, but there are however other skaters that the Wings are looking at headed into Friday’s draft.

Nikolaj Ehlers, Alex Tuch, Kevin Fiala, Robert Fabbri and Sonny Milano are all drawing attention from Detroit. To find out which one of these young men they pick, were all just going to have to wait and see.