from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the NHL's website,

“My first couple years, my parents, they’d say, ‘Hey, want to come home for dinner?’” Larkin said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, sure. A homecooked meal sounds nice.’ But all of that was kind of … like, I would be tired the next day.

“Now I’ve kind of learned how to say no respectfully. I’ve got a job to do, and I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to get ready to play tomorrow night, and usually that entails being home with my wife and just relaxing. So, I’ve really had to learn that.”

General manager Steve Yzerman has said he wants good players. He doesn’t care where they’re from. But it’s a bonus if he can find good players from the Detroit area, and it might help attract them. They know the area. They know each other. They want to be there, and they care.

Look at the Red Wings depth chart now, and it has more skill and depth, especially when you consider the other offseason additions: goalie James Reimer, defensemen Shane Gostisbehere and Justin Holl, and forwards Klim Kostin and Daniel Sprong.

“As guys have started to come into town and get on the ice, I see size -- minus Alex,” Larkin said.

Larkin laughed. DeBrincat is 5-foot-8, a little shorter than, say, Holl and Petry, who are 6-3.

“But he makes up for it,” Larkin continued. “But on our back end, there’s some big bodies and big, long sticks. For me, that’s the hardest to play against, when there’s big guys that can move well.

“I’m really excited. We really shored up our back end, and that’s going to be huge. It’s going to help everyone.”

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