Dylan Larkin gave the Detroit Red Wings a list of three teams to which he’d like to be traded, according to reports. Matthew Stafford once gave the Detroit Lions a list, too.
And there, the comparison should stop.
Unless, that is, Larkin skates his way to a Stanley Cup and a Hart Trophy (or even the Ted Lindsay Award) in his next city, as Stafford did when he won the NFL equivalents in Los Angeles. Until then, please.
Besides, to compare is to steal joy, or so the cliché goes. But then who are we kidding? To not compare is to risk, well, anarchy, synaptic and societal. How are our brains supposed to function if we don’t reference one thing by another thing, no matter how similar or dissimilar they might be?
Also, who forgot to bring Justin Verlander into all this? He was once a face of a Detroit franchise, too, before getting traded at his peak.
He didn’t specifically demand a trade, you say? You’re right, he didn’t. Instead, he told the Detroit Tigers he was down to stay and persevere, but if they were planning a teardown, he’d rather pitch somewhere else, preferably for a contender.
That worked pretty well for the Tigers’ former ace before he returned to Detroit to, presumably, finish his career. He’s also supposedly not far from making his Comerica Park re-debut as he recovers from hip inflammation.
I can relate. Not to his talent. Or to his salary. Or to his larger than life … life. But I can relate to inflammation. If you’re 40 and beyond, get used to it.
This isn’t a complaint, by the way, just an observation, one I’m lucky to make. One Verlander would almost certainly admit he’s lucky to make as well.
When he began his MLB journey 21 years ago, he no doubt never imagined he’d be pitching at 43. Yet here he is, back where it started, a couple of World Series titles in tow, winner of three Cy Youngs and an MVP.
He won those rings – and two of his Cy Youngs – after he left Detroit, of course. And, again, if Larkin hauls in a similar stash, then we can compare them. At the moment, and in all future moments, that seems unlikely – the MVP-level play anyway.
As for the possibility of winning a couple of championships? Sure, why not? Second-line centers win the Cup every year.
This isn’t to diminish Larkin’s talent or effort or two-way determination – comparison can get ugly in the wrong light. And yet he does not play hockey – both by the eye test and in the votes of the media and his peers – as well as Verlander plays baseball, nor as well as Stafford plays football.
Matthew Stafford’s journey to greatness
At least he hasn’t until this point.
Then again, Stafford was no one’s idea of a Hall of Famer before the Lions traded him to the Rams. Great, sure. But … Gold Jacket Great? Nahhh …
Mostly because of the responsibility we lay at the feet of the quarterback. If a quarterback doesn’t win after a while, then he’s not capable of winning. So conventional thinking goes.
Obviously, Stafford didn’t come into the league ready to win the Super Bowl. He could sling it but couldn’t always see the best place to fling it, and in those early days, he couldn’t always count on his spirals finding their intended target.
Oh, he had that arm, and that toughness, but it took him a bit to learn, as it does for almost every quarterback.
Still, for stretches, he threw the football as well as anyone in the league … and maybe better, and when he finally asked the Lions to trade him because he didn’t want to endure another rebuild – it would’ve been his fourth – he left, somehow, underrated.
That’s easier to say in hindsight, now that he’s won a Super Bowl and got to a second NFC title game (a loss that swung on a muffed punt return, not his arm).
That’s easier to say now that he’s won an NFL MVP, an award that eluded him in Detroit, in part because consistent winning eluded him (mostly because a consistent running game and a solid defense eluded the Lions, as they have for most of the past six decades, this current run excepted).
Again, these certitudes are clearer these days as Stafford pads his legacy out west – a legacy he flipped by asking out of Detroit. Verlander helped his legacy by leaving, too. Though he didn’t go to the front office in the offseason to ask out the way Stafford did, the way Larkin just did.
All three gave more than a decade to their teams here, and to this city. And all three spent time as the face of their franchise.
Talented teammates can make a difference
Stafford’s trade brought back pieces critical to the Lions’ rebuild, while Verlander brought back Jake Rogers – who helped steady the young pitching rotation as the Tigers found their way back to the playoffs – and a couple prospects who didn’t pan out. (That’s baseball.) But it’s clear who brought more in the return.
If the Red Wings are lucky, Larkin will bring back a haul that’ll fall somewhere between the two. That won’t be easy, though, as he can veto any trade for the next couple of seasons, and as of now he only wants to play for Florida, Minnesota or Vegas.
That’ll limit Steve Yzerman’s possibilities and will hurt the Red Wings’ leverage.
As for what will become of Larkin’s legacy?
It’s hard to imagine him finding what Verlander and Stafford found. Verlander has had the most postseason success and individual success (for now) and is among his sport’s elite for his generation. Stafford is a touch below but, like Verlander, a future Hall of Famer.
Larkin doesn’t appear headed toward that path. But then who knows?
He looked different during the Olympics when he was flying up and down the ice surrounded by all that talent. Just like more talent helped Verlander in Houston and Stafford in Los Angeles.
And while Larkin isn’t their equal in raw talent, circumstances can change perceptions in a hurry, which can tilt those dreaded comparisons. So yes, his position as the face of a franchise who is ready to move on from this place is similar in some ways to Verlander and Stafford.
What he makes of his next home will tell the rest of his skating story and could force us to reconsider the time he spent here.
Unfortunately, that’s a story we’ve seen a few too many times before.
Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dylan Larkin isn’t 1st Detroit star to ask for trade. This is different, though
Reporting by Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
