Larkin was banged up when he fell into the boards in Tuesday’s practice. He returned in a no-contact jersey on Thursday and told reporters all tests were negative and he’ll be in the lineup for the season opener on Saturday.
Larkin left Tuesday’s practice early but head coach Jeff Blashill said that the injury is not significant and he could play in Saturday’s opener. This is obviously huge news for the Red Wings, but monitor their No.1 centres status over the next few days.
DeBrincat was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2019-20 season but gets his bridge deal before playing a game. DeBrincat scored 41 goals with 35 assists while shooting 18.6 percent with an 11.4 on-ice SH%.
Larkin went down along the boards in what head coach Jeff Blashill described as “fairly innocent” but was forced to leave early. Larkin will be evaluated on Tuesday and the Red Wings will likely release more information on his status on Wednesday.
Faulk is headed into the final year of a deal that carries a $4.833M AAV cap-hit but gets a deal that will carry him through the 2026-27 NHL season when he will be 35-years-old. Faulk has failed to top 40 points in four straight seasons and is coming off of an 11-goal, 24-assist season in 2019.
Faulk has been one of the best offensive-defenseman in the NHL over the last five seasons. Over that stretch, he is fourth in PPG (32), seventh in goals (67), 18th in PPP (79), 25th in points (189) and tied for 26th in Pts/gm (0.50). Heading to St. Louis, he’ll have to battle with fellow right-handed defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko for playing time at 5v5 and him or Pietrangelo should quarterback the first power-play.
Dries split his 2019 campaign between the Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Eagles (AHL). During his time in the NHL, the 25-year-old centre had three goals and three assists in 40 games. Dries will likely be a fringe NHLer to start the 2020 season. The P-E Bellemare signing this offseason will likely push him back to the NHL to start though.
Copp was awarded a $2.28M AAV contract by an independent arbitrator and is signed through the 2021 season. Copp missed 13 games last year but had a career-high 11 goals to go along with 14 assists while ranking third among Jets forwards in SH TOI/GM (1:22).
Compher set career-highs in goals (16), assists (16) and points (32) in 66 games last season. Compher averaged 17:29 TOI/gm but carried a -4.1 relative CorsiFor% but will likely get bumped down the depth chart following the addition of Nazem Kadri this summer. Compher should settle in as Colorado’s third line centre and could thrive against the oppositions’ bottom-6.
Tarasov was a third-round pick (No.86 overall) in 2017 and played in the VHL and KHL last year. Tarasov was 17-6 with a 1.71 GAA, .928 SV% and two shutouts in 25 VHL games before making his KHL debut, where he had a 2.86 GAA and .917 SV% in two games.
Gibson stopped 30 of 31 shots in the Ducks win in Edmonton last Saturday. Gibson started the year strong and is finishing strong, winning three in a row and seven of his last eight while posting a 2.50 GAA and .925 SV%. The Ducks did him no justice this season but Gibson has won at least 25 games in three straight seasons now and should be a top goalie target heading into 2019-20.
