Michigan Man

Freshman Larkin Fits In Comfortably on Wolverines' Top Line

by Jashvina Shah/Staff Writer

It’s 5:10 p.m. on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Most of the Michigan hockey players have skated off the ice, but Dylan Larkin is still there, practicing.



“Any time we get extra ice available, Dylan’s on the ice,” Michigan coach Red Berenson says. “He loves the game.

“He’s going to continue to improve; there’s always things to improve on when you’re a hockey player. But he continues to become a more consistent player game after game.”

Michigan hockey has ice reserved in the morning for players who want to work on skating and skills. Larkin is usually always there.

“We don’t tell him he to come and we don’t monitor it, but it’s available ice to come down and work on your shot or skating or whatever you want,” Berenson says. “He’s shown that he’s self motivated in those areas to do the extra work.”

Larkin practices his skills despite the defining attributes — speed and two-way play — the Red Wings draft pick brings to Michigan. The speed and ability to control the puck stood out to Berenson when he first watched the future Wolverine play over three years ago.

“He would just seem to be in constant motion,” Berenson says. “He never stands still and it seemed like he was always around puck, like either he went and got it or the puck followed him.”

While his speed and play with the puck is impressive, it’s Larkin’s play away from the puck — his two-way game — that distinguishes the freshman.

“He’s not just a one-way player,” senior assistant captain Zach Hyman says. “He comes back into the zone as a centerman as a freshman, which is really hard to do. He’s doing very well and he’s really quick and he makes plays.”

Not Your Typical Freshman

Beneath the Maize and Blue banners detailing Michigan’s winning history, Larkin takes a faceoff in his first Big Ten game. The Wolverines lose the puck, so Larkin races down the ice to swarm Penn State players and defend his territory.

“He plays just as hard in our zone as he does the offensive zone,” Berenson says. “We want all our players to do that, but often we’ll get young players that really don’t understand how important it is to play without the puck.

“He’s done even better than expected.”

From a 200-foot game to speed and work ethic, Larkin looks nothing like a freshman. The forward spent last season with the USNTDP U-18 team, where he recorded 56 points (31g, 25a) over 60 games. Along with facing USHL opponents, Larkin played collegiate competition with the NTDP.

So when the 192-pound forward arrived on campus, he needed no adjustments to play well against the higher level of competition.

“It came easy to him almost,” Hyman says. “That says a lot about him because it’s hard for a lot of freshman to make that transition from juniors, from USA to college but it just seemed like it was easy for him and he fit right in right from day one and he’s really taken off.”

But Larkin works on scoring consistently, as his points have come in bursts. He netted his first collegiate point on Oct. 24, the same night he earned his first goal and multi-point game.

“He’s found out that it’s not easy to play at this level,” Berenson said. “The players are strong and they’re older, they’re fast, they’re well-coached. It’s intense and you’ve got to show up every game. ... If you go into a game not totally prepared you’re not going to have a good game so I think the consistency is something that Dylan will learn.

“He brings a solid work ethic every day, and that’s refreshing. Not every player is having a good day, [with] Dylan it seems like when he walks in the rink, no matter what’s happened in his day in school or anything else, he can’t wait to get on the ice.”

Michigan Man

Michigan hockey takes the ice before the yellow-clad student section as the band plays Hail To The Victors.

Larkin needed one period of the electric, distinctive Yost atmosphere before telling his dad he wanted to be a Wolverine.

“There’s not much like it,” Larkin says.

U of M is the latest stop for the Waterford, Mich., native, who was born and bred in the Great Lakes State. He began playing hockey around two years old, when he skated with his cousins and older brother.

“I remember playing roller hockey with my brother and then my older cousin,” Larkin says. “It was in the summer and all we would do is play that.”

Before spending two years with the NTDP, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Larkin played for Michigan’s Belle Tire Midget Minor program. The proximity to his future school allowed Larkin to experience Michigan hockey before joining the program.

“He’s been able to see our team play and he’s been in our rink quite a bit,” Berenson says. “He knew a couple of our players that have also been in the program so I think he felt really confident and comfortable when he got here. That’s how he looked on the ice.”

In the summer, the hometown Red Wings picked Larkin 15th overall, and the forward spent a piece of his summer at Traverse City, Mich., at Detroit’s development camp. Larkin is the first Wolverine drafted by the Red Wings since Kevin Hilton was taken in 1993.

“I haven’t gone far from home, so my parents have always gotten to watch me play and it means a lot to them,” Larkin says. “It’s pretty cool to play here and be a Michigan man and then get drafted by the Red Wings.”

The Productive Pair

Larkin is standing quietly during preseason workouts, surrounded by his classmates. Larkin doesn’t speak to Hyman much, but the senior immediately notices the freshman’s humility.

“You can tell that he’s a genuinely nice guy,” Hyman says.

From the start, Berenson paired Hyman, Michigan’s eldest captain, with Larkin, creating a blend of senior leadership with freshman inexperience.

“Zach Hyman is one of our few senior forwards,” Berenson says. “He’s probably the most mature, confident, easy to work with [and a] good role model. He’s a serious student, serious player, a good player.”

Hyman is one of two seniors who’s appeared in every game this season. The 205-pound forward has played in 125 games during his Wolverine career.

“We just felt Zach Hyman would be a great linemate for Dylan as a young player,” Berenson says. “Zach could show him the ropes whenever we ran into glitches. Zach would be really a good resource for him and it’s worked out that way.”

Hyman, Larkin and sophomore Alex Kile have played on a line together in every game but one, a 6-2 loss to Michigan Tech. The trio is 1-2-3 in scoring on the team. This season, they have produced 29 points together, registering a point as a line in each game but one.

After becoming an on-ice pair, Larkin and Hyman turned into good friends off the ice. The two spend time together, and Hyman mentors his younger linemate.

“He’s been through a lot all four years and [he’s] mentally tough,” Larkin says. “Even if you have a bad shift, he’s always there to remind me that we’re going to be all right and just keep working hard.

“Our relationship has been me looking up to him and he respects me, so it’s a good, healthy relationship.”

Berenson says it isn’t fair to predict if a player will make the NHL or not. But if Larkin continues working hard, the Michigan skipper sees Larkin fulfilling the NHL dream.

“Right now he’s proving he can be a good college hockey player,” Berenson says. “At some point, we want him to become a dominant college hockey player.

“Detroit doesn’t take their players until they’re over ready so that’ll be the goal for Dylan, is to continue to work hard in school and on the ice and keep maturing and getting stronger and then when his chance comes to play at the next level to be ready for that.”