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.
Larkin is more of a shooter than a passer, as he has a good wrist shot and strong release. He is also effective at finding open areas for one-timers. Larkin creates offense through straight ahead simple plays, more than from being overly fancy and creative. He makes the smart play though and is willing to go to the net hard. He can be effective with soft hands in tight to bury rebounds and create tip ins. Larkin does have good hockey sense and plays a pro-style game now. He doesn’t make a lot of those little plays that work in junior hockey, but won’t work going forward that are seen from many prospects at his age.
Larkin is extremely advanced defensively for a young player. He knows how to keep his man to the outside and cut down passing and shooting lanes. He backchecks hard, and supports his defence down low against the cycle game. Larkin is more than willing to put his body on the line and block shots. While we don’t have face-off stats, observation shows that he has been good in the circle and wins a lot of draws. Larkin has shown a high compete level in all three zones, but he can be more effective physically as he adds more muscle on his frame.
In terms of style Larkin is reminiscent of Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins.
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So from a pure probability standpoint, I'm with you.
