Detroit Red Wings: Dylan Larkin needs to live up captaincy in 2021-22

The Detroit Red Wings announced that Dylan Larkin was finally named captain ahead of the 2020-21 season. Larkin had a rough season in 2020-21, even with injuries cutting things short in an already shortened season.

The Detroit Red Wings rebuild continues to be taxing on some of the players, and Larkin is one of the players who knows this the most. Larkin has been there through the thick of it and knows the frustrations of this rebuild.

As the 2021-22 season rolls into view and the summer continues to roll along, Larkin needs to be focused on being better. He is the captain now and needs to live up to the tangible and intangible expectations.

The lack of scoring in 202-21 was not the most ideal for him, injury woes or not. The frustration, which was visible at times, is warranted, but if he is the captain, he needs to start trying to take a different approach.

The youth of this organization is going to start poking through into the NHL level, and Larkin needs to be working to help these guys find their way. When Larkin was coming up, things were trending downwards, and former captain Henrik Zetterberg was there to help Larkin make the transition.

Zetterberg himself had some back injuries that forced him to retire, but he unofficially turned the reins over to Dylan Larkin. While Niklas Kronwall was the next guy in line, it was known that hometown hero Larkin was going to be the next long-term captain.

Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin needs to live up to the captaincy in 2021-22.

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This past season, Larkin’s scoring was down. He only played in 44 games where he had nine goals and 14 assists for 23 total points.

That is a career-low for Larkin. While the lack of games played does not make it easier, he’s gotta get back on track and change things in 2021-22.

The team appears that they are going to start getting to a point where some of the exciting talents are going to poke through into the NHL, as mentioned above. This is the part of the rebuild where the team may struggle to piece things together while all of these guys find their footing.

Larkin, as captain, needs to do whatever he can to help these guys find their way in the NHL and start molding these players to fit into roles that can help this team be a winner once again. When General Manager (GM) Steve Yzerman awarded Larkin the captaincy, it was expected he would live up to the expected standards.

So far, this has not quite the case. I loved the decision to award Larkin the captaincy and am excited to watch him grow as the leader of this team. I am hoping that he is able to live up to the expectations better in 2021-22 than he had in prior seasons.