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Processing Edvinsson, Larkin’s impact. |
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A day after what could end up being an important win toward the end of the year, the processing begins. The box score helps to process significant moments that may have been missed. My “hockey buddy” texted me about Edvinsson’s performance last night. The big prospect first caught my attention in clips of the pregame skate. Seeing how big he looks on ice, but how well he skates is incredible. #77 racked up 19:40 in TOI with 2 hits, 2 blocks and an even +/- rating. Seider, who took Edvinsson under his wing at the prospect’s first camp had 20:42 in ice time with 5 blocks, 5 hits, a +3, 1 assist and no shots.
The concerns about Edvinsson came from him pushing offensively in Grand Rapids and getting caught behind the play sometimes. Then I remembered Yzerman (and the franchise) wanting Edvinsson to work on his offensive output in GR so he was pushing and at one point was 2nd on the team in points. Last night, the big man stayed closer to the blue line in the O zone and worked hard in the D zone. He used his reach to keep play alive and seems to have grown more comfortable in a frame that kept growing post draft. Squeezing forwards out of a play and Seider’s influence was fairly noticeable in some of the stylistic moves.
A road trip is going to be an interesting sample size for the big man, but he looked a lot more sound defensively with a simplified game. The blue line future could be bright, and training camp pairings will be interesting to see this coming fall.
Of course, the “story” of the night was Larkin’s return. Larkin’s journey has been an interesting one. For the past few years there have been plenty of comments that indicated he wasn’t a top center, some even saying a top 6 center. Going back to his training camps after a year at U of M, the rumor and story was Holland was considering a start in Grand Rapids for Larkin. It was apparently Zetterberg who walked into an office and said the team was better with the 19 year old. A fairly glowing endorsement for the first 19 year old to make the starting roster in a while for Detroit.
Enter the Yzerman era. Steve said they wouldn’t name a captain after Z’s retirement until he’d observed the team for a year. He was watching on and off the ice behaviors. Larkin housed the newly drafted Seider, and Seider in turn housed Raymond temporarily. Larkin wasn’t trying just to lead the team, he was trying to create other leaders.
The 8 game hiatus during injury recovery saw the team fall off. Even those players known to be solid “in the room” couldn’t seem to bring things together. Larkin’s return brought some stability and confidence to the crew almost immediately. BlueLineEnforcer had some well worded thoughts about the importance of the captain to the team. Now, I’d like to hear from more of you. Was Larkin’s return a moment that may have moved the needle on his importance to the team? How did you feel about Edvinsson’s showing? This was one game and it was an adrenaline fest. It will be interesting to see how the next several games play out.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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