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Larkin locked up; Zetterberg status uncertain |
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All along, Dylan Larkin remained confident that he’d get a deal done with the Detroit Red Wings sooner rather than later.
Friday, his confidence was rewarded. Larkin and the Wings agreed to terms on a five-year pact that will pay the 22-year-old center $30.5 million.
“Over the three years of his entry-level contract, I think he’s made tremendous progress in learning to play a 200-foot game,” Detroit GM Ken Holland said on a conference call. “His first year pro, he played left wing with (Henrik) Zetterberg and had a real nice rookie year with 23 goals.
“The past two years we transitioned him from left wing to center ice, where there’s more responsibility and he led our team in scoring last year and became way better defensively and played way more important minutes. At age 22, his best years are ahead of him.
“The last thing when you go into a negotiation is you know your player and Dylan brings a lot of determination and a lot of passion, and he loves the game of hockey.”
He Earned It
Larkin got a long-term deal, while the remainder of Detroit’s contingent of young players up for new pacts settled for bridge deals, and rightfully so, because Larkin is much further along in his development curve.
“Four of our young players we’re really building around and need, want, hope they’re going to continue to take steps in their career,” Holland said. “In Anthony Mantha’s case, and (Tyler) Bertuzzi’s case and Andreas’s (Athanasiou) case, they’re good young players and accomplished a fair amount but they feel and we feel there’s more to give, there’s more to come, and that’s why you do a short-term deal.
“I can’t pay on speculation and the player obviously doesn’t want to sign a long-term deal and then too early on out-perform that deal significantly, so I think as I went into negotiations this summer – in Dylan’s case he’s been here three full seasons. Dylan has been here longer, he led our team in scoring, he was selected to play for North American under-23 team in the World Cup, he’s been selected to play in last two World Championships, so obviously Dylan’s resume is a little more accomplished and that’s why we signed him to a longer-term contract with a bigger commitment.
“My hope and the hope for those young players is that over the next two or three years they can accomplish the same thing, take their career to another level and we can be working on a negotiation for a longer contract with those players.”
Z Uncertain
Another reason why it was essential to lock up Larkin is the growing concern surrounding captain Zetterberg, whose wonky back is acting up.
“I am anxious to know where Henrik Zetterberg is at,” Holland said. “Certainly, he’s a bit of an unknown in terms of health. He didn’t practice basically the last 2-2 ½ months of the season, he just played games. I have talked to his agent a number of times over the course of summer and I know he’s had a tough summer, hasn’t been able to train anywhere near close to what he’s been able to train in past summers due to his back, so there’s a real unknown right now with Henrik Zetterberg.
“I’m hoping that Z is good and we’ll have to address that probably in September. I want to get to camp and see if Henrik Zetterberg is healthy. He’s a real unknown.”
Cap Space
Larkin will check in with a cap hit of $6.1 million, leaving the team about $1 million over the NHL salary cap.
“It’s nothing significant,” Holland said. “It’s a workable number.”
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