Larkin hoping to carry on good family name with Oilers
College star and brother of Red Wings standout sees opportunity in Edmonton
Colin Larkin didn’t get the John Tavares treatment by any stretch of the imagination.
Teams weren’t begging him for a two-hour meeting to sing the praises of their organization, and all of the Brinks trucks in his area were told to stand down.
But as the leading scorer and player of the year in the NCAA Division III’s New England Hockey Conference, he had options.
And like recent college free agent signings Matt Benning and Drake Caggiula, he believes the Edmonton Oilers are the best fit.
Larkin signed with the organization in March and played 16 games for the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL.
“I had a lot of success at the college level and there were some teams (interested),” said the 24-year-old centre. “But the prestige of the Oilers organization and the opportunity to join the young talent here was a no-brainer for me.
“There is a chance to play with young players. There are a lot of high draft picks and a lot of elite talent in this organization. The arena and the facilities are state of the art.
“Honestly, I felt like I was selling myself to the Oilers more than anything, just getting a chance to sign with them was a dream come true.”
Larkin didn’t generate the same buzz Caggiula did when he picked Edmonton after leading North Dakota to an NCAA title, but if pedigree counts for anything he could be a sleeper.
His brother Dylan Larkin is carving out a niche with the Detroit Red Wings, coming off a 63-point season three years after being selected 15th overall.
He also has a couple of cousins, Adam and Ryan, making their way up the hockey ranks (Adam played in the ECHL last year and Ryan was a goalie at Miami-Ohio) that he can lean on as well.
They all grew up together, watching Hockey Night in Canada, playing street hockey, dreaming about the day they would all be NHLers. They even started the Larkin Hockey School back in the Detroit area.
“It’s good to have guys who are family kind of going through the same things,” said Colin, adding a brother in the NHL, even a younger one, makes a very big difference for somebody in the early stages of a pro career.
“It’s nice training with him and seeing what it takes to play at the highest level. When I got to Bakersfield he was giving me little nuances on how to be a good pro and what things you need to be doing to keep your development moving along nicely.
“We’re very close, we spend the summers together, he is my only brother. Starting a pro career off and bouncing things off him is nice to have. We’re always talking about hockey. I watch a lot of his games. I’m extremely proud of where he’s gone in his pro career so far.”
Colin is still a few steps from the NHL, but his first taste of the pros went pretty much as expected. He had just two assists in 16 games, which is a far cry from the 24 goals and 22 assists he had in 27 games with UMASS -Boston, but he knew going in that it was more about getting a close-up look at the pro game so he’d have a better idea what to work on in the summer.
“Getting into games right away was a really great experience for me,” said the 6-foot-2, 192 pounder. “Obviously, the numbers weren’t the same (as in college), but I don’t think anyone expected them to be the same.
“Just getting in there and getting the experience was the main goal. From Division III to the AHL was a big jump for me, but just trying to catch up to that speed and play a different role than I was playing in college was good.
“There were a lot of ups and downs in the six weeks I was there but just gaining that experience was huge for me.”
Now he’s a full on pro.
“I was playing 25 games a year in college, now we’re jumping up to 60, 70, or 80 games. The training is different but I’m extremely excited for the opportunity.”