Dylan Larkin Just Got Himself Paid
Dylan Larkin just got himself PAID. The Red Wings resigned the 22-year-old to a 6-year, $30.5m deal with an AAV of $6.1m according to Craig Custance of the Athletic. Larkin is coming off his 3-year entry level deal that payed him an AAV of $1.425m.
Larkin is coming off a season where he played in all 82 games, the Michigan native only had 16 goals though along with 47 assists, which is a career low in goals, career high in points. His career high in goals came his rookie season when he put up 23 in 80 games.
Larkin is a good player, no question about it, but this is definitely a risky contract for the Red Wings. We are talking big boy money here. An AAV of $6.1m is no joke, especially for a player who has only scored over 20 goals once in his career.
I’m high on Larkin though, I think he will be a player in this league for a long time. Hopefully, for the Red Wings sake, he takes a step forward this season, rather than a step back. 63 points isn’t a bad season at all, but he needs to find the back of the net more than 16 times. If you are making that much money it’s inevitable, you need to.
The Red Wings have dug themselves into a whole with some bad contract the past few years. I mean, they are heading into the season with zero cap space, like absolutely none. They are paying Frans Nielsen, 5.25m a year until 2021, They have Johan Franzen who hasn’t played a game since 15-16, on the books for $3.95m for two more seasons, Justin Abdelkader on the books for 4.25m a year until 2022-23. And they don’t have the best pool of prospects to top it off, besides Zadina, that kid is going to be a stud.
Larkin got himself paid though and you got to be happy for the guy. $6.1m a year to play hockey, at the age of 22. Life is good. Go have a night man, you deserve it.
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