Dylan Larkin, Henrik Zetterberg and what it means to be Red Wings captain

When Henrik Zetterberg left Detroit, moving home to Sweden after a storied playing career, he made a delivery to Dylan Larkin.
A friend had given Zetterberg a treatment bench to use at home, with the number 40 stitched into it and the captain's C above it. When Zetterberg retired in 2018, Larkin was still two years away from being officially named the Detroit Red Wings' captain. Zetterberg decided that didn't matter.

"To be honest," Zetterberg told DetroitRedWings.com, "even though he didn't have the C on his jersey, he's been the captain for a few years."
So Zetterberg made an addition to the table. He put the number 71 on it, with the C next to it. When he dropped it at Larkin's house, he told him that only captains could have the table.
"Well, I'm not the captain," Zetterberg recalled Larkin saying.
"Well, you're gonna be the next captain," Zetterberg replied.
It's been long enough - 10 months and a full season - since Larkin was officially named captain of the Red Wings that he's used to it. On Thursday night, when the Red Wings open their season against the Tampa Bay Lightning he'll be introduced as the captain for the first time in front of a packed house, the memory of playing in front of an empty Little Caesars Arena long forgotten. He says it won't feel much different for him.
For the city of Detroit, though, that might not be the case.

When you ask Zetterberg or Nicklas Lidstrom about the myriad responsibilities that come with captainship, they bring up all of the duties that come with being the face of the franchise. Community relations. Media obligations.
"Not just the actual on ice, hockey stuff," Lidstrom told DetroitRedWings.com. "Everything around it, too, that comes with being captain."
Larkin, when asked the same question, first brings up the COVID-19 protocols that were entombed into daily life last season. His conversations with executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman entailed what time the team would eat, how they would travel, how often they would get tested, what they would do if they got sick.
"A lot of stuff you don't really wanna deal with," Larkin told DetroitRedWings.com.
Though the pandemic isn't over, Larkin is able to focus now on the more conventional part of captainship, and fans will be able to greet him in turn. When Moritz Seider first arrived in the city, Larkin let him crash at his place, taking him to football games and making the rookie feel welcome. With Lucas Raymond as well, he's made it a point to help him feel comfortable and give him tips.
"That's how it was when I came in," Larkin said. "And I was treated as an equal, not a rookie. It meant a lot to me. It was the first step to feeling comfortable in the locker room, first step to feeling comfortable out on the ice."

Much of that came from Zetterberg, an influence who Larkin called "one of the greatest role models in my life." Since he's moved back to Sweden, they don't talk quite as much as before, but during the season, Zetterberg tries to check in and make sure things are going well.
During his rookie season, though, Zetterberg's mentorship was precious to Larkin, then a 19-year old who had played just one year in college before going to the Red Wings with all the pressure of being a hometown kid who grew up watching the guys he was now playing with on his shoulders.
"I think coming into the league, it's such a big adjustment on everything else except playing hockey," Zetterberg said. "And for me, I just wanted him to ...do what he does best, playing hockey. And really be there for him when (things are bad) or if he makes a mistake, coach gets on him."

Larkin, mostly, watched and learned. He saw how Zetterberg stayed level, no matter whether the Red Wings were winning or losing. How he got along with everyone, stayed responsible on the ice, put the team first.
"The transition was, it was exciting at first, right?" Larkin said. "You're young and playing in the NHL, living your dream. It's a whirlwind. Every day, new city, new rink, new player you grew up watching.
"But you learn, you kinda come down from that and you have to learn to be there every day and produce every day. And that's what he did."
It hasn't been all that long since then. Before the Red Wings cut their roster to 23 on Monday, Larkin sat in a room of reporters and recalled not knowing whether he would make the roster in 2015, all of six years ago. But he's now playing Zetterberg's role.
"And that's the crazy part to me - he's almost the veteran in the team now," Zetterberg said.

Then he corrected himself. "He is a veteran now. And he's played for so long, but I think the way he handled everything and he became more and more of a leader every year, and players look up to him because he does everything right."
As much as a captain is expected to lead outwardly - Lidstrom recalled speaking to the team after a demoralizing 10-3 loss - the quality of setting an example and doing the right thing is shared amongst the lineage of players who have worn the C for Detroit.
"That's something I learned from Stevie when I joined the Wings, and I think I passed that onto Henrik when he came to the Wings, too," Lidstrom said. "So I think that's something that we have both kinda picked up on. I think you see that work ethic in Dylan today from when he saw what Zetterberg did. So I think that's something, a common thread, the work ethic and being that every day, going to work every day."

Lidstrom never played with Larkin, and has only met him in passing. From a distance, though, he's seen him evolve into a two-way player.
"You can't just rely on being an offensive player, you have to be relied upon as a defensive player as well," Lidstrom said. "Playing without the puck, I've seen his work ethic is really high from watching from a distance."
"I think when he came into the league, he was obviously really good offensively," Zetterberg said. "But defensively, he really had a lot to learn I think. And that's pretty common when you're a young player coming into the league, cause you've had to play offense and score points and put points on the board. But now, he's a really good two-way player."
Another thing Larkin has learned - and that he now tries to impart to younger players - is how and when to throw the system aside and go make a play.
"You have to add your own flair, your own flavor to it," Larkin said. "Make your plays. Cause that makes our team better. We've struggled to score goals. You need to play within the system, but you also need to play with the puck, and there's nothing in our system that doesn't allow you to make plays. As much as we want to play the right way, you still have to take that chance."

But for all those moments yet to come between him and Seider, Raymond and the rest of the young Red Wings, it's what Larkin won't say that will make the biggest impact - the unspoken expectations that are placed with everything he does.
"He works hard in the gym, works hard in practice, he works hard in games," Zetterberg said. "His engines never stop."
Like Zetterberg before him, it's an example to follow.