12:51 p.m.: Detroit made the transaction official Monday afternoon. To create space on the active roster, the team assigned forward Austin Czarnik to AHL Grand Rapids.
10:38 a.m.: The Red Wings will activate captain Dylan Larkin off injured reserve before tonight’s game against the Ducks, head coach Derek Lalonde said Monday morning.
Larkin landed on injured reserve last Monday with a head injury sustained on December 9 against the Senators. The 27-year-old center took a cross-check from Senators winger Mathieu Joseph during a net-front scrum late in the first period and was briefly unconscious on the ice.
Thankfully, Larkin didn’t sustain a severe injury on the play and is ready to return to game action just over a week after the incident. However, Detroit is still without winger David Perron, who has two games left to serve in a six-game suspension assessed for cross-checking Senators defenseman Artem Zub in retaliation after Larkin went down. Perron will be eligible to return for this Friday’s game against the Flyers.
Larkin’s return comes at a crucial time for the Red Wings. The team went 1-3-0 in their captain’s absence and has undone most of the standings gain created by a late November hot streak. Their 15-11-4 record is a .567 points percentage, which still puts them fourth in the Atlantic Division but behind the Islanders (.600) and Devils (.569) for the two Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Waterford, Michigan-born center remains the only point-per-game player on the roster and has 11 goals and 14 assists through 24 contests, leading Red Wings forwards by averaging 19:24 per contest and winning a team-high 52.7% of faceoffs. His 52.8% Corsi share at even strength is the highest among any Red Wings forward to suit up this season.
Tonight marks the second full game with both Larkin and Patrick Kane in the Red Wings lineup. Kane’s Detroit debut came December 7 against the Sharks, Larkin’s last full game before exiting with injury. The two are expected to be linemates tonight, with 23-year-old Joe Veleno riding shotgun at left wing.
Larkin is in the first season of an eight-year, $69.6MM extension with trade protection inked last March. His 462 career points in 608 games rank 18th in Red Wings franchise history.
Good news on Larkin but total BS that Joseph and/or Zub received NO discipline for the despicable hit on Larkin. What is the NHL thinking? Or obviously they are not. What a bush league run by a weasel of a commissioner!
It’s a shame the Wings don’t have anyone to fight Joseph every time they meet for the rest of the season. Any chance they could sign a heavy in the ahl to sit in the press box on non-Senators matchups? They won’t, but a fella can dream… hopeful for an acquisition who adds some grit at some point.
Anyone remember the probert days…… sigh the good ol days. No one messed with Stevie Y.
RIP Probie.
The Joseph hit was not dirty. The result was unfortunate, It’s a play that happens dozens of times a game. Red Wings fans are just disappointed that it was their player that was injured. And they are the only ones crying that it should have been a suspension, and it’s not all of them, just the worst of them.
We’re all a little touchy about the cross check he took to the back of the neck that cost him a lot of games… I’m in the old school camp however, don’t wait for the refs to call penalty’s while your guys get injured. Police yourself. Make people think twice taking liberties especially with stars.
Just because I disagree with you, wreckage, doesn’t make me or anyone like-minded, “the worst of them”. A cross check to the back of the head was, is, and will always be a dirty play whether it’s to a star player or to someone less impactful; would be equally against Larkin if he did this to Joseph. I see nothing wrong with wanting a safer game as far as blindsided head and neck shots are concerned.
As has been shown 1000 times, it was not a cross check. Joseph had 1 hand on his stick. It was a net front battle that happens dozens of times a game.
One hand or two hands; A shot to the head/neck to a player with his back turned though, right? Perhaps poor semantics on my last post, but to recant, anything leading to less of those in the game we all enjoy would make it a better game. That’s my opinion, and you’re equally entitled to yours, wreckage.
Guess who’s back….. (back again) larkins back tell uh friend