Say what you will about Dylan Larkin, but he's going down as one of the greatest Detroit Red Wings players of all-time in one major stat category. Once he scores his 24th goal in 2025-26, probably late in the season, Larkin will lock up the No. 10 spot in career goals scored.
Right now, John Ogrodnick resides there, with 265 goals, and Larkin's sitting at 242. That said, it'll be a minute before he moves further up the list, since Brendan Shanahan is No. 9 with 309, and Pavel Datsyuk clocks in at No. 8 with 314.
Still, Larkin's driven home 30-plus goals in each of the last four seasons, including a career-high 33 in 2023-24 when he played in just 68 games. If he keeps up that 30-plus pace for the next four seasons, he'll end up at No. 5 on the list, passing the likes of Norm Ullman, Ted Lindsay, and Henrik Zetterberg.
No, Larkin's no future Hall of Famer, unlike some of the names listed earlier, and he's never led the Wings to a playoff berth, since he was in his age-19 season when Detroit last made it in 2016. But it doesn't mean he hasn't been an effective center who creates constant mismatches and gives goaltenders nightmares.
Dylan Larkin is closing in on multiple top-10 lists of Detroit Red Wings career records
He probably won't get it this season, but Larkin's 334 assists heading into 2025-26 has him approaching Reed Larson, who clocks in with 382, and Ted Lindsay, who snagged 393. Larkin averages 37 assists per year, so by the end of 2026-27, I won't be surprised if he's sitting eighth all-time for helpers.
And finally, we need to talk about points. Brendan Shanahan's in the No. 10 spot with 633, but Larkin's got 576 and averages 64 per year. If he hits his average, Larkin will end 2025-26 with 640, seven more than what Shanahan accumulated during his time in the Winged Wheel.
Right now, Larkin may have an asterisk beside his name because of his limited postseason experience (five games and one goal) with middle-six minutes. But with the Red Wings (hopefully) growing into a contender soon, he could get rid of that asterisk and hit the top-10 list in points, goals, and assists.
Larkin also gets credit, though, thanks to his resilience during one of the darkest eras of Red Wings hockey. Still, he's shown up every year and more than exceeded expectations. He deserves for fans to mention him in the same breath as some of those greats.
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