Red Wings captain opens up about brutal end to season, missing NHL playoffs 

The Red Wings definitely improved this season but narrowly missed the playoffs for a franchise-record eight consecutive seasons.

Captain Dylan Larkin will use that disappointment to fuel his determination and preparation to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024-25.

"This stings," Larkin said via Ansar Khan of MLive.com. "The momentum we built, for the guys returning hopefully there's a hunger there all summer and a little bit of anger and hurt from what we just went through. I know it will be for me."

The Red Wings cleaned out their lockers on Thursday but were still shocked that their season is over. After being in a playoff spot with an eight-point cushion at the end of February, a disastrous March led to a frantic finish. 

Detroit won its last three games beyond regulation, two in overtime and the last game of the regular season in a shootout. Its 91 points tied with the Capitals, but Washington captured the second wild-card playoff berth on the first tiebreaker, which was decided by regulation wins.

"It sucks that there was no reward, but it was a great experience to find out a lot about myself and our team playing in these last 13 games since I was injured," Larkin said. "It was very intense and demanding and a lot of fun. I found out a lot about our group."

It was a tough season for Larkin, personally. His wife had a miscarriage and he missed 14 games, including eight due to an injury in March.

Patrick Kane said that the injury, which happened during a 4-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on March 2, was the main reason the Red Wings missed the playoffs. They were 2-6-0 in that stretch and 4-10 without him.

Larkin had a career-high 33 goals and 69 points in 68 games.

"It's such a hole in the lineup," Kane said. "I think you saw when we got him back... it's incredible, his importance to this team, whether just on the ice, or off the ice, his leadership, his desire to win, how good he wants to be for this organization and how he wants to get over the top here."

Larkin is also Detroit's nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which goes to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made significant humanitarian contributions to the community.