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Detroit Red Wings: Meet The Pending Captain, Dylan Larkin

By Tyler Kotila

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 20: Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates his third period gaol with teammates while playing the Chicago Blackhawks at Little Caesars Arena on February 20, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Chicago won the game 5-4 in overtime. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 20: Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates his third period gaol with teammates while playing the Chicago Blackhawks at Little Caesars Arena on February 20, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Chicago won the game 5-4 in overtime. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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The most recent Detroit Red Wings captain was Henrik Zetterberg, and after his departure, there was no true captain with Niklas Kronwall wearing an “A” serving as the lead assistant. It’s time that the pending captain, Dylan Larkin, takes over and starts his tenure as captain.

It’s time for the reign of Dylan Larkin to begin for the Detroit Red Wings organization, to put it simply. Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman needs to award Larkin with the position and give him the chance to prove himself as the true leader of this team. Coming into the 2019-20 season, Larkin will be twenty-three years old finally settling into his own as a force for the Red Wings and becoming a seasoned player with the team.

Now is the perfect time for Larkin to get a taste of being the captain and taking on the leadership role while the time starts to push the rebuild into the past while rounding out the development of the younger players.

Just a few years ago, Larkin was one of those young guys all the fans were excited about, and now he can be the young leader of the team. He can work with these guys and help them fully develop into a robust crop of young players that will make this team great.

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Coming off the 2018-19 season, Larkin is looking to increase his points up from 73 points (32 G, 41 A) this past season. Larkin has plenty of upside as a player who can take a leadership role; he’s somehow who will do a great job of stepping up once given the opportunity. Larkin is the first-line center. Over the past few years has gotten the chance to prove himself as a developing/growing talent for the Detroit Red Wings who are heading towards the end of the rebuild.

With the hope of an ending rebuild, Larkin should take over as captain now and be the captain through the end of the rebuild rather than take over at the end. There are two options that Yzerman has…

  1. Make Larkin Captain now, allow him to grow as the team captain through the end of the rebuild and into a time of competition.
  2. Keep three assistant captains until the rebuild appears to be over and then make Larkin captain to let him lead the team during a time of competition.

Personally, it seems like the best option for the Detroit Red Wings would be to let Larkin settle into the role of the captain while the Red Wings get back to a competitive state. The brink of competition is close, so why not make Larkin the captain now?

dark. Next. Yzerman has his sights set on Torey Krug

Niklas Kronwall has continued to wait to notify Yzerman of his decision, which could be the driving force behind the lack of a captaincy announcement. With Kronwall still weighing out the options, the decision could be halted until Kronwall decides since he will factor into Yzerman’s decision.

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