Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill thinks the NHL should do more to protect its young stars.
In entirely unrelated news, the New Jersey Devils spent the better part of 60 minutes on Tuesday night roughing up a young star-in-the-making for the Red Wings, Dylan Larkin.
"I think referees throughout the league have to know that young stars in the league, when they get targeted, they've got to make sure they do a good job of calling penalties, even if they're close," Blashill said after the Devils' 4-3 victory, per Ansar Khan of MLive.com. "We don't want our young stars in the league getting targeted and we don't want lots of fighting anymore, so we better make sure we look after them a little bit that way. So if it's close, let's make sure we look after them."
To be fair to Blashill, he has a point. The young stars, especially in an NHL that's geared more and more towards scoring and elite displays of speed, are the product the league will use to continue growth. Larkin, at just 19, is very much a part of that.
In his first NHL season, Larkin has proven to be an elite playmaker. Through 34 games, Larkin has collected 13 goals and 24 points.
But teams also can't just allow Larkin room on the ice because of the name on the back of his jersey. If Blashill thought the refs were missing blatant penalties or targeting Larkin, as it seemed the Devils were, then he as a legitimate gripe.
But if he just wants to make sure his guy gets preferential treatment, then there's an issue there.
On Tuesday, the Devils made certain that Larkin knew any space he found wasn't going to be easy to come by. Does that amount to targeting? In a way, yes. They know Larkin is dangerous so they made it a point to get physical with him.
It's only when that physicality crosses the line that the refs should step in.
In a couple of instances Tuesday night, like the one below, where Devils defenseman John Moore seemed to carry Larkin into the boards awkwardly, Larkin was slow to get up and in the ensuing scrum, Damon Severson went after Larkin, it seemed they probably should have. (h/t to @myregularface)
ouch pic.twitter.com/73Sh4n53Kc
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 23, 2015
But it's a tough game, even as it changes and evolves into something entirely different than the sport we all knew and loved in the 70's and 80's. Larkin, like any NHL player, deserves a certain amount of protection. But he also needs to know that with success, comes a high profile and increased attention from other teams.
It'll be up to him to find a way to create anyway.
