July 2, 2015

Two Kids and an Old Goat: How Larkin Can Get In the Lineup

With the signing of Brad Richards, the Red Wings have a surplus of top 9 forwards. Based on his quotes, Holland sees Datsyuk, Richards and Sheahan as the top 3 centers meaning Zetterberg, Tatar, Nyquist, Franzen, Abdelkader, Helm, Pulkkinen and Jurco are competing for the remaining spots in the top 9. With so much competition, there is little opportunity for the Red Wing’s super prospect Dylan Larkin to crack the lineup. However, Red Wing history has shown us a possible blueprint for getting Larkin into the lineup despite the aforementioned players.



In 2002 the Detroit Red Wings were on an incredible march towards a Stanley Cup championship. Although aging, Yzerman, Fedorov and Shanahan were superstars, Larionov, Robitlile and Holmstrom provided depth scoring and the Grind Line handled defensive responsibilities. With so much talent there is only so much ice time to go around. For the Stanley Cup champions, it was two kids, Boyd Deveraux and Pavel Datsyuk, and an old goat, Brett Hull who received the left-over minutes. 

One year later Deveraux was replaced by another rookie, Swedish prospect Henrik Zetterberg. Despite their youth and inexperience, the two young players had superstar potential. To best utilize these talented players, Dave Lewis sheltered the two prospects and the aging superstar. Captain Steve Yzerman and the 3rd line of Draper, Maltby and McCarty took on the top competition while starting 60% of their shifts in the defensive zone. Thanks to these player’s defensive responsibilities the Wings were able to play the young players in an offensive role, despite also sheltering the aging Larionov and Robitaille.






This deployment worked once and I believe it could be effective again this season. The change would be dependent on Riley Sheahan, Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm becoming a shut-down defensive 3rd line, with a deployment similar to that of Miller and Glendening this season. With this defensive unit and the first line of Zetterberg and Datsyuk, the team would be able to shelter the remaining forwards. With some combination of Nyquist, Richards, Tatar and Pulkkinen in the top 6, Jurco, Larkin and Franzen would be left for the 4th line. 

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Nyquist
Tatar-Richards-Pulkkinen
Abdelkader-Sheahan-Helm
Jurco-Larkin-Franzen
Miller-Glendening

Franzen, the aging sniper would be able to hide his defensive deficiencies when playing only in the offensive zone. In addition, the two prospect would be able to utilize their impressive offensive abilities while slowly gaining experience. With a backlog of top 9 forwards there is little space for Larkin in the lineup. However by limiting their ice time to the offensive zone, Two Kids and an Old Goat v 2.0 could be the solution to our forward problems.

2 comments:

  1. I like your out of the box thinking. Good read. But with nyquist and tatar having to spend extra time in GR, and larkin only has 6 games AHL experience so a full season would put him at 82 games. I want Larkin on NHL now but Id like him a full year in GR.

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  2. Just want to clarify, I'm not saying they should bring him, I haven't seen enough to say either way. But if Holland/Blash do want him in Detroit, I think this is the way to do it

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