Dylan Larkin shouldn't be the guy Detroit sends out when a shootout reaches the rounds that decide it. That's on the coaching staff.
Larkin got the puck in the fourth and final round against Philipp Grubauer on Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena, wristed it, and watched Grubauer stop it to seal a 4-3 Kraken win. Arvidsson had tied it a round earlier with Detroit's only shootout goal, right after Freddy Gaudreau converted for Seattle, and Bobby McMann put the Kraken ahead before Larkin ever stepped up. Seattle took the shootout 2-1. Grubauer, who made 22 saves in regulation, stopped three of Detroit's four attempts. Goalies stop good shooters. Losing a one-on-one to a hot one isn't a crime.
The habit that put Larkin there in the first place is the problem. This is a player who asked out of Detroit this offseason, had the captaincy taken off his chest for it, and has since expanded his list of preferred destinations to ten teams. On the day of this loss, his trade list grew while his team's win column didn't. His attention looks like it's already somewhere other than the Red Wings' crest. The coaching staff is still treating him as the unquestioned closer, on name recognition alone, like the last few months never happened.
RatingLook at what Larkin has actually put on the ice. Through seven games this season he leads the team in giveaways and has one goal to go with four assists at an even plus-minus. A player bleeding pucks at that rate, scoring that little, hasn't earned the right to hold the stick when the game is one shot from over. He had a useful night in other ways, two power-play assists and six shots on goal. He didn't disappear. He got handed the highest-leverage touch of the night out of habit.
Detroit didn't play well enough to deserve the win regardless of who shot fourth, and the group gave this one away before the shootout started. But the shootout is the one slice of the night that's pure coaching choice, a short list of names picked in order, and the coach controls it completely. When you control who shoots and you keep picking a disgruntled center over a hotter option like Arvidsson or a younger player with something to prove, the outcome is on you.
Detroit's organization already admitted, with its own actions, that Larkin's standing has slipped. You don't strip a man of the captaincy and then hand him the marquee responsibilities that come with it. The front office created a situation where a player who wants out is still carrying the most visible jobs on the roster. The coaching staff keeps feeding it, one shootout at a time.
Larkin is a player in open conflict with his club who keeps getting the biggest moments by default. Change the order.
