When a wave of injuries came over the Detroit Red Wings a few years ago, they were forced to bring up Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist sooner than they would have liked.

The pair were in and out of the Red Wings lineup over the past few years, as general manager Ken Holland wanted to give them more ice time in Grand Rapids before bringing them up to Detroit full time.

Holland, however, added Dylan Larkin to the Red Wings roster right after his freshman year at Michigan.

Larkin's first 80 games in the NHL were fairly successful. He started the season strong with 15 goals and 18 assists in his first 48 games. After the All-Star break, he couldn't keep the same level of production and had just eight goals and four assists in the remaining 32 games.

Tatar (19 goals, 15 assists) and Nyquist (11 goals, 17 assists) didn't have as many points in their first 80 games, but they were in and out of the lineup playing with different teammates each time they were called up.

How do Larkin's first 80 NHL games compare to Tatar (Dec. 2010-March 2014) and Nyquist (Nov. 2011-Jan. 2014)? Let's take a look at the five on five numbers:

5 on 5 Dylan Larkin Tomas Tatar Gustav Nyquist CF60 57.32 59.57 57.62 CA60 53.10 44.06 49.02 CF% 51.91 57.48 54.03 RelCF% -0.12 7.05 1.05 High-danger scoring chances for/60 11.4 11.2 12.2 High-danger scoring chances against/60 11.7 8.5 9.6 Scoring chances for/60 28.65 27.80 28.7 Scoring chances against/60 27.68 21.10 23.6 GF60 2.68 2.69 2.24 GA60 2.11 1.77 1.4 G/60 1.03 1.13 0.7 A/60 1.03 0.78 1.05 Primary points/60 1.71 1.13 0.7 TOI 13.27 10.9 11.5

As you can see in the chart, the trio are very similar in the majority of the categories. All three have Corsi for percentages of above 50, and their high-danger scoring chances for and scoring chances for are similar.

However, Larkin has the edge when it comes to primary points (goals and primary assists), and Tatar and Nyquist are better at suppressing shot attempts from the opponent and not allowing scoring chances and goals.

Of course, there are a plethora of factors that affect these numbers:

Tatar (20 years old) and Nyquist (22) made their debuts when they were older than Larkin (19). Tatar (23) and Nyquist (24) also were older when they reached 80 games.

Tatar and Nyquist had the luxury of playing with Nicklas Lidstrom, Brad Stuart and younger, better versions of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson. Tatar played with Brian Rafalski, as well.

Tatar and Nyquist had Mike Babcock as a coach.

So while one might look at the chart and say Tatar and Nyquist were the more well-rounded players in their first 80 games, they also played with better teammates, especially on the defensive side.

Now, let's take a look at the power play numbers. It's no secret the Red Wings struggled with the man advantage this season (18.8 percent, 13th in the league). But did that affect Larkin's numbers, and how do they stack up to Tatar and Nyquist?

Power play Dylan Larkin Tomas Tatar Gustav Nyquist CF60 89.00 95.09 82.84 HSCF60 19.34 20.4 12.7 SCF60 54.38 43.3 38.5 GF60 4.61 3.41 2.87 G/60 1.42 0.76 0.41 A/60 0.35 1.14 0.82 P1/60 1.77 0.76 0.41 TOI 1.92 1.8 1.8

As you can see, Larkin was better than Tatar and Nyquist in four of the seven categories. Tatar led the other two in shot attempts per 60 minutes and high-danger scoring chances for but didn't have the individual goal-scoring success Larkin had.

If Datsyuk decides to go back to Russia, it's almost a guarantee these players will see an uptick in their power-play time.

As with any rookie, there are going to be peaks and valleys along the way. It will be interesting to see how Larkin performs in his second season. Will he continue to build on the success he had during his rookie year, or will he regress like Tatar and Nyquist did during the 2015-16 season?

Note: All data taken from Corsica.hockey and War-on-ice.

-- Follow MLive Sports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

-- Download the Detroit Red Wings on MLive app for iPhone and Android

-- Follow Ansar Khan, Brendan Savage and Tom Mitsos on Twitter