Dylan Larkin's ASG performance portends a bright future

Nobody’s going to argue that this past NHL All-Star weekend belonged to anyone but a certain 6-foot-8 enforcer. But the weekend in Nashville also showcased a slough of talent from different players and treated us to a very impressive showing from Detroit Red Wings rookie Dylan Larkin.

On the All-Star stage, the 19-year-old from Waterford, Mich., made his mark by breaking the record for fastest skater in the Skills Competition with a 13.172 — a record previously set by Mike Gartner in 1996, a couple months before Larkin was born — and tallied three assists in Sunday’s 3-on-3 tournament.

Plus, how many other 19-year-olds can say that they set up both Jaromir Jagr and P.K. Subban for goals in an All-Star Game?

The rookie’s ASG showing made it clear — the kid is going to be a mainstay in the league for a long time to come.

Larkin became the seventh Red Wings rookie to make the NHL All-Star team and the first to do so since Steve Yzerman in 1984. It was reported that Jagr’s mullet got in a bunch when he was asked to compare Larkin to his hero Yzerman. But he did come around to compliment the rookie’s immense speed, saying that the “NHL has changed. You don’t have to be really big and very strong. You need to have good speed and be a good skater. That’s the most important now.”

It probably wasn’t much of a surprise to those who have watched the young forward so far this season. He has been a force for Detroit, adding size and that tremendous speed to a Red Wings team that has seen ups and downs in the first few months of its campaign.

His contribution isn’t so much of a surprise for the Red Wings, however. In a recent interview with MLive, GM Ken Holland said he knew the prospect was “something really  special” after his performance for Team USA in last year’s World Juniors:

“Those are the best 18- and 19-year-old players in the world that are not in the NHL and by the end of that tournament, on a team that was loaded with first-round draft picks, in my opinion he was one of the most important players on the U.S. team.”

Now, of course, this isn’t to say that Larkin, as a player, is a finished product. After being selected to the Central Division’s All-Star team, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill reportedly discussed some things that he wants to see the rookie work on:

“Probably one of the biggest areas is making sure, when he comes back in our zone, continuing to learn to stop when he’s supposed to stop and not drift towards the puck,” Blashill said. “Lots of real good young players, they want to go get the puck. And there’s times for that, for sure, but you gotta learn to stop at the right times. That’s one area.”

Clearly, having  a young, speedy puck hunter on your squad isn’t the worst thing that could happen to Detroit. It’s just something for Larkin to improve on.

As the All-Star Game helped show, he already has a good foundation to make adjustments on.