Adam Larkin, cousin of Detroit's Dylan, is entering his senior year at Yale University but was taking part in his first development camp.
"I think Dylan helped me a lot with being prepared and understanding what to expect when coming here so that certainly helped but I think for me, my mentality, being a free agent out here, is just come and work as hard as I can, just do what the coaches ask you," Larkin said. "From that standpoint, you really can't do too much wrong if you keep working hard."
Larkin is majoring in economics at Yale, which is challenging enough without playing hockey.
"I wouldn't call it easy," Larkin said. "But it's all about time management. Not only do you have to get your school work done, you have to try to find ways to eat right and play well and put in extra time at the rink and also find time to sleep. The biggest key is time management there. You have to really be focused on whatever it is that you want, whether it's an academic or athletic pursuit, you have to be focused and understand how to manage your time."
Last season Larkin was Yale's highest-scoring defenseman, recording three goals and 11 assists in 32 games.
"I would say I'm a headsy player," Larkin said. "I'm one that plays well within the system and is able to see the ice well and understand the flow of the game. I think I communicate well and I think areas of improvement, I've always wanted to be a little bit more offensive than I have been, at least in recent years. I need to improve my skating, but everybody probably will tell you they need to work on their skating."
Although Larkin is getting an excellent education at Yale and will have plenty of opportunities after graduation, he wouldn't mind following in Dylan's footsteps.
"I'm hoping, of course," Larkin said. "The great thing about these camps is it's an education opportunity so whether it is with Grand Rapids or with Detroit or elsewhere in the league, you're learning here and that's what's awesome about being here, you have such great resources to teach you whatever it takes to get to the next level."
Larkin said his brother, Ryan, a goaltender at Miami University of Ohio, Dylan and Dylan's brother Colin, a forward at the University of Massachusetts Boston, all grew up together.
"We always grew up about a mile away from each other. We were four brothers," Larkin said. "Our families would always get together, watch Hockey Night in Canada every week and watch the Wings games, we were always playing street hockey, pond hockey, mini sticks, video games, you name it.
"We were always together so we grew up as four brothers and we played other sports but hockey was the common bond between the four of us."
Larkin described the feeling of seeing Dylan make the Red Wings, the team they had rooted for while growing up.
"It obviously was incredible and it's something we dreamed about our whole life," Larkin said. "I was surprised but I wasn't flabbergasted because he works so hard, he's always been a player that you can rely on both offensively and defensively. I've always given him a lot of credit for doing the right things and I think once you get to this level, it's about one, having a high level of skill and being able to execute at a high level but for him, he works so hard and he's so driven that it was almost like we knew that certainly one day there could be a chance but for him to be in the league as a 19-year-old, it was pretty surprising."
Although during the school year/NHL season, the four are apart, they still remain in contact.
"We stay in touch as much as we can throughout the season," Larkin said. "In the summer we're always together. We hang out a lot, golf a lot and then we have this hockey school that we started last year. That's a fun experience to kind of get to give back to the people from the area that we grew up in."
The Larkin Hockey School completed one camp earlier this month and just started another.
There are still spots available for the Aug. 8-11 session.
Tonight at 6 o'clock, the Larkins, along with Dylan's Red Wings teammate Danny DeKeyser and his college teammate, Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski, are expected to play in a charity hockey game at Waterford's Lakeland Ice Arena.
Fans who attend will be able to get autographs from those players.
Art Regner contributed to this story.
