Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin will miss approximately two weeks with a lower-body injury, coach Derek Lalonde said Monday.
Larkin left the game late in the Red Wings’ 4-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and now the team will be without him at a crucial moment in its season.
Larkin is Detroit’s engine as its first-line center, as well as its leading scorer with 54 points in 55 games this season. His last absence, in mid-December, coincided with the team’s worst stretch of the season — first losing four out of five games without him (including the game in which he was knocked unconscious against Ottawa), and then continuing a frustrating December as he and the team worked their way back into form.
The Red Wings battled back from that rocky month and turned in strong showings in January and February, and as a result, now hold a six-point cushion in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. But they have lost two straight and this week will begin a road trip that includes visits to the last two Stanley Cup Champions, Colorado and Vegas.
“He’s a driver for us,” Lalonde said. “These are the bumps — if you want to stay in that battle, you want to get over that (playoff) line, you’ve got to fight through some of these things. And this is our opportunity on this road trip.”
What Larkin means to the Red Wings
The simplest way to put it might be: As much as a player can mean to his team. He’s their engine, their leading goal scorer, plays both special teams, and sets the tone for the entire group with his motor. He routinely scores and sets up big goals, and, playing between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane, centers their most dangerous line. And arguably most importantly, he slots the rest of their lineup correctly. Detroit has worked hard to deepen its lineup this season, but without Larkin at the top, it asks a lot of the rest of the Red Wings’ centers to create winnable matchups against opponents.
Who can fill Larkin’s role?
It appears Joe Veleno will get the first crack at it, as Veleno skated between DeBrincat and Kane at Monday’s practice. The Red Wings feel Kane and DeBrincat are at their best when playing with a center with pace, and while Veleno doesn’t have Larkin’s offensive track record, he certainly can replicate the speed and puck-transporting ability, as well as use his size to win battles down low. The 24-year-old forward is having the best season of his young career so far, with 26 points in 59 games, and playing between two of Detroit’s most dynamic players gives him a great opportunity to build on that. Expect his usage to go way up over the next two weeks: He averages around 14 minutes, 30 seconds in ice time most games but consistently drew north of 20 minutes when Larkin was out in December.
Red Wings schedule outlook without Larkin
There would be no good time for the Red Wings to lose a player as important as Larkin, but this is a particularly high-leverage moment, with the Red Wings trying to hold onto a playoff spot as they begin a difficult road trip. Games at Colorado and Vegas this week (as part of three games in four nights) were going to be challenging even with Larkin in the lineup, and will now only get more difficult.
The Red Wings will want to rise to that occasion, but their two games apiece against Arizona and Buffalo in the next two weeks will also rise in importance. Detroit’s playoff odds sat at 65 percent entering Monday, but surviving the next two weeks without their captain is crucial to maintaining that position — especially as the Islanders surge behind them.
Is there any reason for optimism?
One difference Lalonde highlighted between this Larkin absence and the one in December is that, in December, the Red Wings were also missing their No. 2 center, J.T. Compher, and key forward David Perron — putting additional strain on their lineup. While Larkin is the biggest piece of the puzzle, Detroit won’t be quite so thin in trying to make up the difference this time around.
(Photo of Dylan Larkin: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
