Larkin ready for Red Wings captaincy, knows it's out of his control

Dylan Larkin would welcome wearing the "C" for the Detroit Red Wings, but he's trying not to fixate on the possibility.

"I feel ready for it," Larkin told TSN's Mark Masters on Tuesday. "I think it's something that I can't focus on. I can't lose sleep about it. I can't control it. I just try to be myself and play the game that I love and play with a lot of passion and everyone in the NHL has been a leader at some point in their careers. I'm lucky that we have great veteran leadership and it's taken a lot of pressure off me."

The talented forward, who turned 23 last week, understands the significance of possibly captaining one of the most storied clubs in the league but isn't dwelling on it.

"A letter is a letter, but being a captain of a franchise like the Detroit Red Wings would mean a lot to me," he said. "If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, I still get to play for the Detroit Red Wings and I get to play in the NHL and I'm going to try to play my best."

The Red Wings went without a captain this past season after longtime leader Henrik Zetterberg was placed on long-term injured reserve due to a back condition in September 2018.

Larkin led by example in 2018-19, pacing Detroit with 32 goals and 73 points in 76 games.

Copyright (C) 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.