Larkin ‘heartbeat’ of Team USA entering Olympic gold medal game against Canada

MILAN -- Dylan Larkin proudly wears the red and white, and the red, white and blue.

The Detroit Red Wings captain feels a deep desire to lead his hometown team back to glory, and he’ll do anything to help his country win gold again. He embodies Team USA's values -- loyalty, commitment, sacrifice, performance.

In Detroit, he’s the No. 1 center and on the power play. At the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, he’s the No. 3 center and on the penalty kill. He wears no letter on his jersey, but he leads the U.S. on the ice for warmup, generating energy inside and outside the locker room.

“He’s the heartbeat,” teammate and close friend Zach Werenski said.

Larkin has stepped up with everything on the line in single elimination, scoring the first goal for the Americans in both their 2-1 overtime win against Team Sweden in the quarterfinals Wednesday and 6-2 win against Team Slovakia in the semifinals Friday.

Now he will play Team Canada in the gold medal game at Santagiulia Arena on Sunday (8:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, NBC, ICE Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, SN [JIP], TSN [JIP], RDS2). The United States has won Olympic gold in men’s hockey only twice: at Squaw Valley in 1960 and Lake Placid in 1980.

“USA Hockey means the world to me,” Larkin said. “I’m here because of USA Hockey. … [Coach Mike Sullivan has] talked about the number of guys that have won a gold medal as men’s hockey players in the U.S. It’s a small number, and we’d like to be a part of that and inspire kids for generations to come.”

Larkin has spent his entire career in his home state of Michigan.

He played for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program when it was based in Ann Arbor and was selected in the first round (No. 15) of the 2014 NHL Draft by Detroit. After one season at the University of Michigan, he played for Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League in the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs. He has played for the Red Wings ever since.

The Red Wings named him captain at 24 years old Jan. 13, 2021. Now 29, he ranks 10th in goals (268), 11thin assists (359) and 11th in points (627) for a franchise that has won the Stanley Cup 11 times and is celebrating its Centennial this season.

Along the way, he has represented the United States many times at various levels, but he hasn’t won a tournament since the U.S. won gold at the 2014 IIHF U18 World Championship with current teammates Kyle Connor, Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin and Auston Matthews.

“He’s awesome,” said Werenski, who has played with Larkin in youth hockey, in college and for USA Hockey. “I think just his voice, the way he carries himself. There’s a reason he was named captain of an Original Six team at such a young age. He’s made for big moments like this.

“Unfortunately, he hasn’t had enough of them in his career. I feel like when he gets in the playoffs, you’re going to hear about him a lot more.”

Larkin hasn’t appeared in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2015-16, his rookie season in the NHL, and the Red Wings won only one game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference First Round.

At the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, he was eager for playoff-type games in a best-on-best tournament. When the United States faced Canada at Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 15, he scored the winner and assisted on an empty-net goal by Jake Guentzel in a wild, emotional 3-1 victory. He said he thinks about 4 Nations often and what could have been after losing to Canada 3-2 in overtime of the championship game at TD Garden in Boston on Feb. 20.

“When we were playing in the 4 Nations, Dylan’s game kept getting better and better and better as we went along, and he proved what a big-game player he can be,” U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said.

Sullivan called Larkin a fierce competitor and terrific on both sides of the puck.

“The thing that probably I’ve really grown to admire about him is getting to know him as a person, which you don’t get to do when you play against him in the NHL all the time,” said Sullivan, coach of the New York Rangers. “The 4 Nations experience and now the Olympics has given me an opportunity to … realize the intangibles that he brings to the table and why he is the player that he is.

“He’s a great teammate. All he wants to do is win. He’s willing to embrace anything that we ask of him to do so, and he’s capable in so many ways. So, am I rooting for him? Absolutely.”

Everyone on Team USA seems to be rooting for him. Listen to two captains of rival teams in the Eastern Conference:

“He just brings energy all day long,” the Rangers’ J.T. Miller said. “Loves hockey. He’s a hockey nerd for sure. He’s a big part of this team. He loves USA Hockey, and his presence, it resonates in the whole room. Everybody knows when he’s around.”

The Ottawa Senators’ Brady Tkachuk said: “He always shows up in big moments. It’s just the type of player that he is. It’s so fun to be on the same team, and such a great player. ... He’s always the ‘X’ factor.”

Larkin trains at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, in the offseason with a group of players that includes Connor, Werenski and U.S. teammates Connor Hellebuyck, Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes.

“I think he’s just super dialed in,” Werenski said. “I see it in the summers. I see how hard he works. I see how bad he wants to make the playoffs for the Wings.”

The Red Wings have an excellent chance to secure a playoff spot for the first time in 10 years after Larkin returns, third in the Atlantic Division and seven points ahead of the first two teams out of the playoff picture in the East: the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals.

But first, he’ll play the biggest game of his life.

“He’s gone through the experiences that he’s gone through in Detroit,” Sullivan said. “I think that team is becoming formidable at this point. I think they’re emerging right now, and he’s a big part of it. He’s a big part of this team.”