So Larkin Made Some Interesting Comments.

[The Zetterberg Era]

“Playoff hockey is the best way to market your team. It’s the best way to grow your fan base and give hope to your players and for them to develop”

-Steve Yzerman

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/steve_yzerman_613129

 

[jkutswings]

Since you're so confident about it.....Who might you think is a suitable replacement? A willing replacement?

I'm sure he will address your questions to the same degree that he addressed mine (not at all).

 

[Run the Jewels]

Since you're so confident about it.....Who might you think is a suitable replacement? A willing replacement?

Mo would be a natural. First Yzerman pick, played the toughest minutes in the entire league last year, is always great in front of the media, awesome attitude, isn't jaded or just generally a b**ch like Larkin.

If that's too difficult to do right now (Larkin blocks a trade despite being stripped of the C), I could see Copp getting the C for a short time before passing it off to Mo. I think it really said something having Copp be front and center for the locker clean out interviews. He was great in front of the media, those defending Larkin's interview don't understand how bad Larkin looks when compared to Mo and Copp.

You can't have a guy with a s**tty attitude like Larkin being the face of this organization after they bottled two playoff appearances in a row and then he whines to direct attention away from himself. This is the hardest championship to win in sports, you can't have a soft batch captain, it's just not gonna work.

 

[jkutswings]

“Playoff hockey is the best way to market your team. It’s the best way to grow your fan base and give hope to your players and for them to develop”

-Steve Yzerman

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/steve_yzerman_613129

Yeah, he needs to follow his own advice. And watch this clip for good measure:

 

[FMichael]

Mo would be a natural. First Yzerman pick, played the toughest minutes in the entire league last year, is always great in front of the media, awesome attitude, isn't jaded or just generally a b**ch like Larkin.

If that's too difficult to do right now (Larkin blocks a trade despite being stripped of the C), I could see Copp getting the C for a short time before passing it off to Mo. I think it really said something having Copp be front and center for the locker clean out interviews. He was great in front of the media, those defending Larkin's interview don't understand how bad Larkin looks when compared to Mo and Copp.

You can't have a guy with a s**tty attitude like Larkin being the face of this organization after they bottled two playoff appearances in a row and then he whines to direct attention away from himself. This is the hardest championship to win in sports, you can't have a soft batch captain, it's just not gonna work.

Ok - good point on Seider...However is it wise to dump upon him the burden that Larkin has had to deal with?

Changing who has the 'C' sewn onto the jersey isn't going to change the performance of this club and not likely the demeanor of the locker room overnight.

 

[jkutswings]

Ok - good point on Seider...However is it wise to dump upon him the burden that Larkin has had to deal with?

Changing who has the 'C' sewn onto the jersey isn't going to change the performance of this club and not likely the demeanor of the locker room overnight.

Oh, I'm sure that any decrease in Seider's performance after assuming the burden of captaincy would NEVER be viewed as him having a bad attitude or being ungrateful towards management.

 

[izlez]

Mo would be a natural. First Yzerman pick, played the toughest minutes in the entire league last year, is always great in front of the media, awesome attitude, isn't jaded or just generally a b**ch like Larkin.

If that's too difficult to do right now (Larkin blocks a trade despite being stripped of the C), I could see Copp getting the C for a short time before passing it off to Mo. I think it really said something having Copp be front and center for the locker clean out interviews. He was great in front of the media, those defending Larkin's interview don't understand how bad Larkin looks when compared to Mo and Copp.

You can't have a guy with a s**tty attitude like Larkin being the face of this organization after they bottled two playoff appearances in a row and then he whines to direct attention away from himself. This is the hardest championship to win in sports, you can't have a soft batch captain, it's just not gonna work.

Ooof. Giving the captaincy to a selfish player that holds out for his own personal contract instead of practicing with the team? A guy that is combined -13 in March over the last 2 seasons? I say we trade him ASAP and figure out how to replace him later

 

[HisNoodliness]

1. Questioning the team direction publicly, especially in a weirdly selfish way. I'm thinking of the "4th round picks" comment.

2. This entire press conference suggests he questions Yzerman's judgment, that the team itself did after the deadline, and implies maybe you should, too.

3. You seem to want to make this an Yzerman vs Larkin thing. That's not what I'm doing here. Yzerman's managerial blunders have nothing to do with Larkin's poor leadership.

I find myself in the mushy middle on this one. I think Larkin's comments are totally justified. Half of the fan base feels this way. He's been on this team for a long time and he has to be as upset as anyone that nearly every UFA we sign sucks. I don't think these complaints should be aired in a season-ending presser by the captain of the team. It's a bad look, and part of a captain's job is being the face of the team. So ultimately I agree that we can both agree that Yzerman hasn't done enough for the team and that Larkin shouldn't have given that interview the way that he did.

We all looked at our defense coming into the season and said "that looks really rough." We had two rookies turn into top 4 defenseman and it was still terrible. That has nothing to do with Lalonde, McLellan, or Larkin's leadership. That's because Yzerman and his team of talent evaluators did a bad job, and chose to fill those roster spots with bad players.

More of the blame for our anemic offense can fall on Larkin's shoulders... but not much. He had a rough patch after the four nations where he was clearly hurt. That's too bad, we really could have used him. He always seems to get banged up. Prior to that? He was awesome. 30 goals and 70 points on the season for this team is great. We had absolutely atrocious secondary scoring. The top line (and second once Kasper awoke) was fine. The third and fourth were truly useless. That's because they're bad players. We chose poorly when filling those roles.

Add a decent forward and suddenly an injury to Andrew F'in Copp doesn't cause the whole thing to come crashing down. Add a decent defenseman and suddenly Seider is carrying the puck with someone reliable to watch his back, Chiarot is carrying the third pair and Holl is carrying water bottles- like they should be. We can talk about why any one particular move at any one particular deadline/free agency period didn't happen. It's hard to believe that we couldn't have done better to surround Larkin, Raymond, Seider, and Ed with some genuinely effective NHL talent.

So I get him being frustrated with that. Larkin, more or less, has done his job to make the team competitive. Yzerman appears to have set us up well to compete eventually. Larkin is right to be frustrated that the timeframe increasingly seems to be after his prime because other parts of the franchise have failed to do their parts.

I've never appreciated how he handles his frustrations though. The other team does something he doesn't like, instead of scoring a goal, he whines to the refs. The Wings don't have the success he wants, instead of talking to Yzerman behind closed doors, and trying to get the team extra motivated for next year, he whines to the media. That's pretty much the worst attitude for handling adversity. He's earned all of the criticism to that effect.

We're somewhere between NAH and ESH. I wouldn't fire Yzerman, and I wouldn't trade Larkin (unless he really forced us to).

 

[FMichael]

Larkin at the presser is having the same effect as Tootsie had when coming out...

 

[SirloinUB]

I absolutely think we can question that. He played harder and better for Team USA than he did for the Red Wings this season. And, yeah, he got hurt, but it was his decision to go. That makes it his problem, and he shouldn't be pointing fingers at anyone else. If he's upset with missing the playoffs, he should look in the mirror first.

And that's not even getting into the mess that the locker room clearly is. It's his job to manage that, and it's gone to shit. He has not been a good captain, and that doesn't seem to bother him very much.

So, yeah, maybe he skates hard, but I wouldn't say he's tried real hard in other respects. He clearly thinks some aspects of his role are actually just someone else's problem. Which explains this "the buck stops everywhere else" type response.

EDIT:

Not to mention, total leadership 101: you don't get to freak out in front of those you are leading, or you will no longer be able to lead them. You have to project a sense of sureness and strength, and Larkin sure as f*** did not do that. He undermined his own authority by virtue of undermining Yzerman's authority. Now everyone is going to wonder what the plan is, and if they should believe in it—especially if Larkin does not. You can't just undo that. Maybe he didn't mean to, but it's done.

I wouldn’t call anything he said a freak out.

I feel like most of the people upset about this are forgetting the context of his response. When he brings up 4th rounders the reporter literally asked him about young players in the system and the future. Larkin is sick of missing playoffs and talking about the prospects and future.

I heard a guy enforcing a standard that we’re competing for playoffs and should be prepared to move assets to make that happen. He specifically mentioned 4th round picks because despite his desire to compete he understands that we shouldn’t be trading top picks/prospects for rentals. I respect all of that.

As for Dylan Larkin as a captain? I think he ultimately does a good job. This finishing stretch wasn’t his finest hour. While he acknowledged that he “needed to be more effective” I’d have liked to see a little more ownership of the results.

On the other hand, last season he drove this team to within a tiebreaker of playoffs putting up 11 points in the final 8 games and 7 points in the final 4 games. He has been a warrior for this organization working hard, setting a professional standard, and laying his body on the line while they went through the depths of a rebuild as he was entering his prime. He works hard every day and is focused. To me he clearly wants to win as much as anyone. Sometimes I think he wants it too much haha. He used the phrase desperate for playoffs. Sometimes it feels like clinching your stick too tight in a goal drought.

I’m disappointed in his performance down the stretch but overall I think he has been a good captain for this team. Too me, asking for reinforcements at the TDL is a reasonable request from a guy trying to lead this team to playoffs

I’m not upset that Yzerman hasn’t been more aggressive up to this point but it is time to put this thing in gear. It sounds like Larkin agrees with that.

 

[jkutswings]

I wouldn’t call anything he said a freak out.

I feel like most of the people upset about this are forgetting the context of his response. When he brings up 4th rounders the reporter literally asked him about young players in the system and the future. Larkin is sick of missing playoffs and talking about the prospects and future.

I heard a guy enforcing a standard that we’re competing for playoffs and should be prepared to move assets to make that happen. He specifically mentioned 4th round picks because despite his desire to compete he understands that we shouldn’t be trading top picks/prospects for rentals. I’m respect all of that.

As for Dylan Larkin as a captain? I think he ultimately does a good job. This finishing stretch wasn’t his finest hour. While he acknowledged that he “needed to be more effective” I’d have liked to see a little more ownership of the results.

On the other hand, last season he drove this team to within a tiebreaker of playoffs putting up 11 points in the final 8 games and 7 points in the final 4 games. He has been a warrior for this organization working hard, setting a professional standard, and laying his body on the line while they went through the depths of a rebuild as he was entering his prime. He works hard every day and is focused. To me he clearly wants to win as much as anyone. Sometimes I think he wants it too much haha. He used the phrase desperate for playoffs. Sometimes it feels like clinching your stick too tight in a goal drought.

I’m disappointed in his performance down the stretch but overall I think he has been a good captain for this team. Too me, asking for reinforcements at the TDL is a reasonable request from a guy trying to lead this team to playoffs

I’m not upset that Yzerman hasn’t been more aggressive up to this point but it is time to put this thing in gear. It sounds like Larkin agrees with that.

Fantastic post.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Gotta be honest, it really is a weird coincidence that 5 players get injured in February/March for significant lengths of time, the team suddenly falls apart, Larkins leadership suddenly gets called into question, and Yzerman's has no idea how to build a team unless its through first round picks.

Maybe, just maybe, those guys are better than you all thought. We were always roughly a bubble team, and losing the veteran bums actually really hurt us?

Agreed. This thread, sadly like most things nowadays, has weirdly become pretty binary. "Larkin sucks and is a shitty captain" vs. "Yzerman sucks as GM it's not Larkin's fault."

When like most things the reality is more complicated.

The Wings missed the playoffs again and we're all bummed and pissed, players included. To me the reasons are a combo of:

Losing half a season under Lalonde. Why'd it take Yzerman so long to fire him? Did he hope things would turn around? Was he in conversations with multiple coaches and Mclellan became the best of those willing and available? Who knows but it sucks they lost that much time.

Disappointing free agent signings. If Gus and Tank perform close to expectations this team is probably in the playoffs.

Injuries. They happen to all teams but this team is still thin on talent and cannot afford to have injuries at center. Losing Copp for almost 30 games leaves a big hole. Larkin's nagging injuries from the 4 Nations tournament clearly affected his performance during the crucial end of season games. Losing Petry (you heard me right) for half a season means Holl was playing more minutes.

Goalie carousel. Talbot was good this season. (don't @ me. You're wrong). Husso never found his form here after his injuries. He had 1 win in 8 starts. Lyon showed why he's never established himself as a starter in the NHL - consistency. And an achilles heel on seeing around screens.

The PK. I have no idea why it sucked so badly but the strategy seemed to be "stand around so it's easier for the power play to pass around us and score." Historically bad.

Moving decent Dmen a.k.a. "the but-Holl effect." We'll likely never know the truth on what went down with Walman but Yzerman got rid of a decent middle pair Dman and gave up assets to do it. He better have had a great f-ing reason. Moving Maatta. It got Johansson more minutes into the lineup which is great, but moved a good Dman mostly because he had a very moveable contract. As opposed to Holl, who is terrible and has a bigger contract. It's why to me Holl has been by far Yzerman's worst free agent signing because of all of the repercussions it's had on the blueline. Ultimately a season that should've been a step forward on the defense ended up a mixed bag.

The jersey ad - the ghost of Mr. Hockey is looking down on the Winged Wheel sweater and is angry there's a frigging trash company ad on it, so he has cursed the team.

There's a lot to look forward to next season but honestly this post is already too long and I've even bored myself.

 

[ridilon]

I wish Larks would have taken this a step further and said who he wanted the DRW to acquire. Was it Carlo or Marchand? Maybe all we needed was Daniel Sprong back for that coveted 7th rounder. Did he want Stevie to go all in for Cody Glass? If so, who is Dylan sending packing? I suppose he wanted Rantanen on his wing. It only would have cost Kasper, a couple of 1sts and a couple of 3rds. Put on the big boy GM hat and tell us who you want young fella.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Ok - good point on Seider...However is it wise to dump upon him the burden that Larkin has had to deal with?

Changing who has the 'C' sewn onto the jersey isn't going to change the performance of this club and not likely the demeanor of the locker room overnight.

Enough with the concern trolling. The team is headed in the right direction and no one has said anything to support Larkin as providing any sort of amazing leadership. I can point to a half dozen things Yzerman has done in addition to his bad decisions that works out to a clear net positive in the direction of the franchise. Larkin has done nothing outside of been a passenger at 4 Nations. We wouldn't be losing anything great by stripping Larkin of the C and we may get actual leadership for a change.

It's mind blowing that people are defending Dylan Larkin and his cringe comments. I'm embarrassed for them.

 

[minimal]

Enough with the concern trolling. The team is headed in the right direction and no one has said anything to support Larkin as providing any sort of amazing leadership. I can point to a half dozen things Yzerman has done in addition to his bad decisions that works out to a clear net positive in the direction of the franchise. Larkin has done nothing outside of been a passenger at 4 Nations. We wouldn't be losing anything great by stripping Larkin of the C and we may get actual leadership for a change.

It's mind blowing that people are defending Dylan Larkin and his cringe comments. I'm embarrassed for them.

Yzerman cannot fail, we can only fail him I suppose.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I'm sure he will address your questions to the same degree that he addressed mine (not at all).

Your posts are just generally not at all interesting. Sorry.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Enough with the concern trolling. The team is headed in the right direction and no one has said anything to support Larkin as providing any sort of amazing leadership. I can point to a half dozen things Yzerman has done in addition to his bad decisions that works out to a clear net positive in the direction of the franchise. Larkin has done nothing outside of been a passenger at 4 Nations. We wouldn't be losing anything great by stripping Larkin of the C and we may get actual leadership for a change.

It's mind blowing that people are defending Dylan Larkin and his cringe comments. I'm embarrassed for them.

In his postseason interview, Kane spoke positively about Larkin's leadership. Larkin had the game winning goal in the US's victory over Canada in the 4 Nations tournament and assisted on the empty netter.

I didn't like Larkin's comments because he created drama. Media outlets are now running stories like "Red Wings captain bashes Front Office for Failed Season" but your comments are a wee bit dramatic.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

As I had asked another poster in here - ever have a job where the boss is a moron and f***s the staff over via micromanagement and generally poor decision making?

Larkin - in the end - has to look out for himself...The team he's been on has not been anywhere near as good as to what previous Captains have had (Yzerman, Lidstrom, Zetterberg).

He's been the Captain on that sinking ship and he is treading water like a motherf***er in attempting to keep it afloat...Some of his crew/teammates have been tossed overboard and he likely feels partially responsible for their demise.

Granted - he's certainly not 'elite', nor even 'great' by some critics estimation, but I find him in that 'damn good' category and every team in the league would want him on their roster.

I believe he said what we as fans all pretty much know already...As to what is going on behind the scenes and how things play out can be a mystery...

Look, there is a way to go about just about everything in life. If Larkin needs to look out for himself and purse other opportunities, go to Yzerman in private and ask for a trade, or go to Yzerman in private and let him know that if the club isn't targeting the playoffs, that you don't care to be here any longer. There is a way of handling the issue.

For the record, there is absolutely no way that we will ever win a trade of Larkin. Moreover, to find a center roughly comparable to Larkin will require a shit-ton of prolonged pain. I like Danielson more than most around here and I very much like Kasper. I am not, however, expecting either to be quite as good as Larkin. He is not the top 10 center that his critics want him to be, but he is still one of the top 20 centers in the league. For a team that has been looking for a second line center since 2016, this would create a big, big hole.

 

[izlez]

no one has said anything to support Larkin as providing any sort of amazing leadership.... Larkin has done nothing outside of been a passenger at 4 Nations. We wouldn't be losing anything great by stripping Larkin of the C and we may get actual leadership for a change.

Seriously what the f**k has Larkin done other than been a passenger at 4 Nations?

Like, what are you looking for here?

How about in the biggest game of the season, he got the team fired up coming out of the gate to outshoot Montreal 23-4 in the first period while putting the team up 1-0 himself?

 

[Run the Jewels]

In his postseason interview, completely unprompted Kane spoke positively about Larkin's leadership. Larkin had the game winning goal in the US's victory over Canada in the 4 Nations tournament and assisted on the empty netter.

I didn't like Larkin's comments because he created drama. Media outlets are now running stories like "Red Wings captain bashes Front Office for Failed Season" but your comments are a wee bit dramatic.

I'm feeling reasonably confident that Larkin's end of season interview with McLellan didn't go well and that's why he had himself a pity party. Of course there are players on the team who will speak to his leadership, that's the culture within the league.

If I were you, I would ask myself two questions:

1. Why is this getting picked up and becoming a story? If this is nothing as the Larkin defenders seem to suggest, why is it gaining traction?
2. What does the organization tend to do with players who cause problems?

We'll have to wait and see but I'd be shocked if Larkin is still captain on opening night.

 

[izlez]

1. Why is this getting picked up and becoming a story? If this is nothing as the Larkin defenders seem to suggest, why is it gaining traction?

Drama = Clicks = Money

 

[Run the Jewels]

How about in the biggest game of the season, he got the team fired up coming out of the gate to outshoot Montreal 23-4 in the first period while putting the team up 1-0 himself?

OK great. That's a good example. Why was the team in that position after putting together two 7 game winning streaks shortly after McLellan was hired? Was it because they lost Copp to injury? Why no mention of that from Larkin, why whine about how deserves better? This is the NHL, no one gives a f**k what Dylan thinks he deserves.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

I feel like most of the people upset about this are forgetting the context of his response. When he brings up 4th rounders the reporter literally asked him about young players in the system and the future. Larkin is sick of missing playoffs and talking about the prospects and future.

But, again, he's the captain. He represents the entire organization. It's not about what he is personally sick of. It's about what is good for the organization. He is clearly not buying in if he thinks there's a difference between the two.

Edit: whoops, I broke the quote somehow

 

[GoBoltz56]

TrademerightF'ingnow.gif

 

[Run the Jewels]

Drama = Clicks = Money

There's no clicks and no money if there's no interest. There's lot of interest despite what those who are calling this a nothing burger want you to believe.