Dylan Larkin is ready for his first Red Wings training camp

Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey

 

By @MichaelCaples –

Dylan Larkin said that when he saw his friends returning to school, he was disappointed he wasn’t joining them.

When they actually started classes, however, Larkin wasn’t so upset.

“It’s been fun,” the Waterford native said of his first summer as a professional hockey player. “It’s kind of sad seeing all my friends back together at school, but now that they have started school, I tease them a little bit and text them and ask how school is. It’s not too bad once I know that they’re struggling with homework. It’s pretty cool, being a pro hockey player is what you dream about as a kid, and now I don’t have to worry about anything else but hockey.”

A whirlwind year that saw Larkin be selected No. 15 overall by the Red Wings, star as a freshman forward for the Michigan Wolverines and impress with the U.S. World Junior team only intensified when he made the decision to turn pro on May 21.

After a short stint with the Grand Rapids Griffins during their AHL playoff run, Larkin settled into his first summer as a professional hockey player, but continued his push to ready himself for the 2015-16 season. Larkin trained with fellow Wolverines alum and Red Wings forward Luke Glendenning at Barwis Methods in Plymouth and skated with his future teammates at the captains’ skates at Joe Louis Arena to prepare for what’s next.

Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey

 

The final stop before his first training camp, of course, was the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City. There, Larkin recorded five points and a plus-four rating for a team that finished second in the eight-team group. Larkin said his personal goals for the tournament was to establish his confidence and be physically ready for main camp, and that he accomplished both.

Now, he starts his first training camp with the Detroit Red Wings. The team skated today, and will golf tonight, before truly settling in for training sessions tomorrow.

Larkin said that Detroit GM Ken Holland and coach Jeff Blashill have stressed to Larkin to not over-think things in his first training camp and preseason experience.

“They just said to be myself. Do what I can to control how I play and be prepared. I think I’ve just tried to focus on myself in preparation and they just said keep it simple, so I’m not trying to do too much.”

The Waterford native said he’s both nervous and excited for camp, and that it helps to have already skated with some of his potential new teammates.

“I think it’s helped skating with some of the guys at The Joe and working out with Luke in the summer,” Larkin said. “It’s a bit nervewracking when all the guys come in, there are a lot of guys coming up, but I think it will be a lot of fun, and I’m excited for the preseason games, hopefully I’ll get a chance to play in a few.

“I’m more excited than nervous.”

Larkin also said he doesn’t feel like hockey has become a job, either, despite signing a professional contract and forgoing his amateur status last May. He said he always wants to be out on the ice – even when he’s forced to take a skate off, like he had to prior to the team’s tournament championship game against Columbus.

“I don’t think of it that way,” Larkin said. “It’s hockey, it’s fun. I love doing it. I wish I was out there, but we couldn’t skate today. Every day just go to the rink and have fun.”

 

On his decision to turn pro

Larkin spoke more about his decision to leave the University of Michigan after a single season during the Prospect Tournament, saying the process was an experience in itself.

“Yeah, it was,” he said. “That was a whole experience itself. I’m happy that it’s over with and I think I made the right decision. I’m happy. That was a tough, tough experience and I just thought about it a lot, every angle, and then made a decision and stuck with it.”

Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey

 

The Big Ten freshman of the year said that Michigan coach Red Berenson wanted him to come back for another season to try to become the third Wolverine to win the Hobey Baker. He also wanted Larkin to help lead the Wolverines back into the NCAA Tournament.

“It was a tough one,” Larkin said of his conversation with Berenson. “I think any time, he didn’t want me to leave….we had long talks, and I kind of just made the decision and he wasn’t happy but I felt it was best for myself.”

Larkin said his experience playing for Team USA at the World Championship helped solidify his decision to turn pro.

“I thought about it a lot, like I said, and I thought I had a pretty good World Championship and thought I could play with those guys and after seeing those guys I knew I wanted to be a pro,” Larkin said. “That was kind of it.”

 

On where he plays next season

While Larkin’s goal – like any other player – is to crack the Red Wings’ line-up, he said he wouldn’t be upset with a full season in Grand Rapids.

“I don’t think I’d be disappointed at all,” he said. “I think in Grand Rapids we’re going to have a good team, and there’s a lot of young guys so it would be a lot of fun to play there. Being in the Calder Cup Western Conference Final there, it was a lot of fun in that short time I was there. No matter where I play, I want to play and have fun. I’m excited for this season.”

A year in Grand Rapids could possibly allow Larkin to play in the World Juniors once again – an opportunity he would enjoy having.

“I think that’d be awesome,” Larkin said. “I know we have a lot of returners. I was at the camp this summer and our team’s looking pretty good. That’s a whole ‘nother thing, but something I would enjoy doing. It would be fun, to have another chance to be there and be a leader on the team and I think the U.S. is going to have a good team this year.”

 

On the NTDP’s new home

Larkin, who starred for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program from 2012-14, said he (and many others) are jealous of the new home for his former team. The NTDP is in the process of renovating and moving into USA Hockey Arena – formerly Compuware Arena – in Plymouth.

“Yeah, I am jealous. That’s kind of what all the alumni are saying, why couldn’t they do that a few years ago? I think it’s great for the program and the NTDP itself. It’s going to help – how could you turn that down now, with what they’re going to have? It’s awesome, and they deserve it, and I’m happy for Darryl (Nelson) who gets a new weightroom and Jason (Hodges) who gets a new training room, so they’ll have a good setup there.”

Larkin said his NTDP experience was great for his development on and off the ice.

“It probably got me to where I am now. I wish I could do it again. Just going through the whole billeting, living with great families, I still have relationships with my billet family and other billet families that I met. The city of Ann Arbor, not just on campus but what I got to experience off-campus was pretty cool, and it was a special place for me.”