Dylan Larkin: The Heart and Soul of the Detroit Red Wings

It's no secret that there are a lot of opposing opinions on Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. "Is he a true first-line center?" "Is he good captain material?". While most of us Red Wings fans who have watched his entire pro career know the answer to these questions, many in other fanbases don't really know what he brings to the team. They only see a 200-foot speedy center who can score 30+ goals a season.

Larkin may not be the flashiest player in the league (or even on the Red Wings), but he's always been a stable presence on the team. During the "dark ages" of the rebuild in the 2019-2020 season, Larkin was one of the very few bright spots and has since been one of, if not Detroit's best player.

Now, I'm aware that after the Fabbri trade earlier this month, Larkin is currently the only Red Wings player from that bottom-barrel team. But if you look back on any other player from that team, nobody comes close to the number of points that Larkin has. 24 of the 34 players on that team don't play in the NHL anymore. They've either been regulated to the AHL or Europe or retired.

Dylan Larkin truly leads by example.

Lead by example. It's an old saying that is still true today, and Dylan Larkin is the epitome of this. Since the years of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Darren Helm, the Red Wings haven't had a leader who works nearly as hard as Larkin.

There has not been a single game where Larkin has not given 110%. For the last nine seasons, he has been the most consistent member of the Detroit Red Wings, whether in terms of points, effort, or always being willing to take an astronomical amount of abuse for his team.

Since becoming the Red Wings captain, Larkin has been in the top three in scoring, leading the team for two of those years. Even before he got the "C," he had never finished lower than 8th in team scoring while leading the team eight times in his nine seasons with the organization.

Larkin shows his true love for his team and city

Being born and raised in Michigan, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he loves Detroit and the state of Michigan as a whole. Even so, he has proven time and time again just how much he truly loves the community.

Larkin takes every opportunity he can to give back to the community, volunteering at numerous events aimed at getting children into the sport of hockey and guest speaking at events across the state.

It's not just things he does for the community; he's been known to take accountability and hold his team accountable for things that need to be changed. In fact, at the end of this last season, he told the media that he had "no interest in a vacation" and only had, his eyes on next season and getting back to the playoffs.

After Miguel Cabrera retired from the Detroit Tigers at the end of the 2023 season, Dylan Larkin became the longest-tenured active Detroit sports athlete. He has earned that honor in every way, shape, and form. The city has returned that love tenfold, as he has proven that his heart truly belongs to the Motor City.