GDT: Game 73: Red Wings vs b's 8:00 pm et 3/29/25

[aar000n]

This reminds me of Major League. Might as well win out.

 

[SoupGuru]

Too bad he can veto any trade. I think we are "stuck" with him. I would ask him to waive it and try to trade him for a similar talent like Clayton Keller

I mean, you strip him of the C and he'd probably kick the tires on some trade ideas.

 

[stillwater]

Players don't kick the tires on trade ideas, GM's do.

It's not like he can call Jim Nill in Dallas and say, "what will you give us for me"?

He may desire to be traded ... but that's another thing.

 

[SoupGuru]

Players don't kick the tires on trade ideas, GM's do.

It's not like he can call Jim Nill in Dallas and say, "what will you give us for me"?

He may desire to be traded ... but that's another thing.

If he's got a no trade clause, he'll have to be on board so I'd imagine they'd work together to find the right place, if it ever came to that.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Raymond. Seider. Edvinsson. Kasper. DeBrincat. Johansson. There is a core of players that are good to great that he absolutely can lead. Except he's invisible in all the games when they get important, currently on year 3 of the exact same late Feb-end season performance from him. That's not leadership. I don't really care what he did at Michigan and the US NTDP. This is the NHL and he's not shown leadership ability in the NHL. Being a leader on absolutely stacked Michigan and USA teams is easy. Being a leader when the team sucks and morale is low is what actually makes someone a leader. Larkin is not that. So far, when push comes to shove, he seems to sulk, rather than rise to the challenge.

I'm not saying that he has no heart, doesn't try, has low effort etc. I'm saying he is not captain material. They're different things. Larkin works hard, wears his heart on his sleeve, cares about winning, all of that. However, the stress/pressure of leading a team (i.e. being "the guy") in high-pressure situations seems to bring him down rather than elevate him. That's not a quality you want in your captain.

I would honestly give the C to Seider. I think he's shown that X factor. If not, then just don't have a captain and at least slap As on Seider and Raymond as others have mentioned. Edvinsson should have an A at least too. He's the only person who actually fights back when guys clown us.

Trading for Bertuzzi back and giving him an A could be a good idea too.

This is giving me flashbacks of the "Trade Yzerman" complaints. And that team was underachieving with a lot more talent.

Larkin had 11 points in 8 games last April. That's sulking?

What generally makes someone "Captain material" is the team winning. Toews is credited as some great leader in spite of having to be given multiple stern lectures from Seabrook over the years.

 

[RedHawkDown]

This is giving me flashbacks of the "Trade Yzerman" complaints. And that team was underachieving with a lot more talent.

Larkin had 11 points in 8 games last April. That's sulking?

What generally makes someone "Captain material" is the team winning. Toews is credited as some great leader in spite of having to be given multiple stern lectures from Seabrook over the years.

I'm just commenting on what I see when I watch the games. I don't see a guy out there leaving everything on the ice and rushing into scrums and pulling his team up. I see a player who looks stressed, is holding his stick extra-tight, and has terrible body language.

 

[ricky0034]

this is all vibes stuff but personally that whole indirect pot shot thing on Walman last offseason really soured me on Larkin as a captain

especially with how lifelessly the team then proceeded to start off this season

 

[Frk It]

I'm just commenting on what I see when I watch the games. I don't see a guy out there leaving everything on the ice and rushing into scrums and pulling his team up. I see a player who looks stressed, is holding his stick extra-tight, and has terrible body language.

lol, they are talking about Larkin wearing a letter for team USA the next time there is international play for a reason.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I'm just commenting on what I see when I watch the games. I don't see a guy out there leaving everything on the ice and rushing into scrums and pulling his team up. I see a player who looks stressed, is holding his stick extra-tight, and has terrible body language.

Larkin hasn't been playing like himself and is probably frustrated. I just don't see that extending to some overall question of his leadership.

He can't will Holl to be a competent defenseman, or Tank to start scoring goals, or Compher to stop sucking, or Ras to play even half as tough as DeBrincat.

 

[dalem177]

Larkin hasn't been playing like himself and is probably frustrated. I just don't see that extending to some overall question of his leadership.

He can't will Holl to be a competent defenseman, or Tank to start scoring goals, or Compher to stop sucking, or Ras to play even half as tough as DeBrincat.

I can't critique someone's leadership style or skills when I'm not on the team. I only see the results. Larks definitely has the Eisenhower "Success is "we", failure is "I"" down pat, and I like that. A lot. He does tend to wear his heart on his sleeve, and I personally don't think that's appropriate for a leader. I prefer a "we'll get it done", every time, instead. But that's subjective. I suspect he's trying to mold himself a bit in Yzerman's image, and everyone always said Steve didn't say much, so when he did, people listened. But this crew isn't the 90s crew, so again, I dunno.

And I also don't know what coach is telling him. Maybe Todd pulled him aside and said "I know everyone says we're soft, but it's not YOUR job to wade in and start punching. That's 4th line stuff." I dunno. I really like the kid, but he's got the teammates he's got. Maybe it would be way worse than what we think we see if Larks wasn't in there pitching.