It's really very simple and I can't believe you pharmacists haven't figured it out yet. Tick Tock doesn't know how to pronounce Andreas Athanasiou, so he sent him down. Dan Cleary (or "Danny" as the diggers took to calling him three years ago, about the same time he had his last meaningful shift as a Red Wing) stays because his name rolls right off the tongue and right to the press box.

Dylan Larkin is fun to say. Easy, peasy. Four syllables. A little subtle alliteration in there. Dylannnnlarkinnnn. All one word. Fun.

Fun to say and fast as f**k. Fun to say, 19, with hands and a motor. Dylan Larkin. Michigan boy. Michigan man (for one year). Detroit Red Wing. No worrying about those pesky triple vowel combinations.

Does Athanasiou deserve to be here, too? Absolutely. Absofrigginglutely. Well before Andersson, probably before Pulkinen and absolute centuries before Cleary.

But he's not. He will be, but not yet.

Larkin's presence on the opening night roster could very well signal a new era, afterall.

The Blashill era. That move doesn't happen with dirty Uncle Mike at the helm. It just doesn't.

But in strolls Blash with a nifty little nephew on his hip. Dylannnlarkinnnnn.

On the wing with Z and Home Keys, or centering them? Top line minutes. Top line chances. This is not a fill-in-and-wait-for-Datsyuk move. This is a tectonic shift at the organizational level. It's the Anti-Wing Way and breaths of fresh air are being exhaled all over Southern Michigan.

Holland doesn't do this unless he's sure this kid can not only hack it, but contribute. Blashill doesn't recommend it unless he's damn positive because it's his first real move. Choosing Howard over Mrazek (which is what he'll do, because he should) is nothing compared to this.

Putting Larkin on the roster flies in the face of history, because 20 years equals history. 20 years is long enough to term it a generation.

This doesn't work with Larkin slogging it up with Glendening and Miller. The only way it happens is if the organ-I-zation is committed to letting this kid loose on the NHL to the tune of 15 to 20 minutes per night.

But now I'm greedy. Now I want Andreas Athanasiou up, too. I want Andersson sitting and I want Cleary gone. I got Larkin and now I want me some Athanasiou. I watched the Wing/(Bab)Cocks game on Saturday and I listed to the Toronto announcers go apoplectic over Andreas Athanasiou. They couldn't say enough and the jealousy was joyous. Andreas Athanasiou. Andreas Athanasiou. Andreas Athanasiou.

I still don't know how to pronounce it but I can cut and paste like a fiend.

It's a pipe dream. Larkin is one thing. Both is a whole other matter, because Kenny's smarter than us and that's not sarcastic.

Andreas Athanasiou will remain in GR and that's probably for the best.

Stacked. The system is loaded. The pipes are bursting with talent at every position. There is no downside to today. One down, Mantha and AA to come soon. All those young D-men George raves about? They're coming too.

Where'd we get Larkin? The 14? Mid-level first rounder. An epic pick for us, but mild compared to the multiple can't-missers piled up by the likes of Pittsburgh, Chicago, Edmonton, etc. My point is that we're excited because this is new. But the fact remains that 13 teams didn't draft Larkin before the Wings did and so maybe that should lead us take a conservative tact on this.

Because we do conservative so well, right?

Well, in this case, it's hard to blame the 19 for going a little nutso. Holland and Blashill have only themselves to blame if they choose to be befuddled about the reaction to a 19 year old kid skipping the minors and stepping into a top (if not THE top) line. Holland built his system. He created the Wing Way, so when we get crazy when he shatters it, he shouldn't shake his head in wonderment.

We've prayed at the alter of Ken Holland for decades. We've committed ourselves to it, remained loyal to it (with some snipes here and there), and proudly pointed to the long development process as part of the key to this team's success.

But...somebody, somewhere, re-defined "success."

Putting Dylan Larkin on this roster now is a statement that 25 isn't good enough. The big 3 are getting old and the time is ripe to accent that core with the youngest, fastest, freshest frigging phenom Detroit has seen since...you know.

Holland knew what he was doing and he knew the direction Blashill wanted to go. He's coached these young studs. All of them. He's coached them, knows them, wants them up. Larkin was step 1. There will be more.