Report: Dylan Larkin to stay with the Red Wings

By @MichaelCaples –

It might seem like something completely unnecessary to report on, but Dylan Larkin is staying with the Red Wings, and that’s significant news.

ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reported today that the plan is to keep Larkin in Detroit moving forward.

No surprise, of course – the 19-year-old ranks No. 8 in the entire NHL with a plus-eight rating. Larkin also ranks 38th in the league with seven points in only eight games.

However, once the Waterford native plays in 10 NHL games, his entry-level contract officially kicks in. The nine-game window is a big one for prospects, whose NHL teams decide whether they want that countdown to a bigger payday to begin immediately by keeping the player on the parent club roster, or reassign them to their junior or AHL club.

That means Larkin – a NTDP and University of Michigan alum – takes one step towards restricted free-agency, moving the Wings that much closer to searching for significant cap space for their budding star.