Dylan Larkin, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Todd McLellan Media | Oct. 6, 2025

Dylan Larkin, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Todd McLellan Media | Oct. 6, 2025

It’s is the way that they’ve played from the start and really kind of at least so far grabbed the spots. Yeah. Um, I’ve been I’ve been very impressed and um, you know, I think the way they they played the way they they are um, you know, I listened to Todd uh, one of his interviews after I think it was a practice and he was talking about them and um, they’ve been pretty well accepted in our room and and uh, you know, that’s uh, um, for three guys coming in taking jobs. team with us. Two two great locker room guys. And I know Gus and Hollyy will be I mean we’ll see what happens at 2. I don’t know if you you know with practice just happening. I don’t know what what uh if anything happened yet, but uh um they’re going to be a big part of our team, I think. and and uh they’re great guys and but for those three to come in and and win win win jobs and be that well received in the locker room, it it uh speaks to how guys believe in them and and their demeanor coming in. They’re they’re really, you know, good kids and and um I’m really excited for them and I’m excited for our team because of them. What kind of impact do you think Sandine Pelica can have especially running maybe the second power for you? I mean, be unfair to put anything on him right now. I expect him to be a a player on our team and and I expect every guy that lines suits up for us is is important and um you know, he’s he’s playing hopefully he’s playing his first game in in the NHL on Thursday night and and um that’s what it looks like right now. and he’s going to have a bright bright uh future and and um it’s up to up for him to to decide the kind of player and and uh you know we can just speculate on that. So I’m excited for him and I’m excited like like I said I’m excited um about our team because of those guys. It gives you guys a little bit of that veterans a spark just the way they the way they play and just it gives the room a little bit more juice basically. Yeah. Um it does and and uh you know they all they they all have um great I talked about it during camp. They all have great attributes and and um you know whether it’s Finn speed and and smarts and uh N’s got good good uh speed as well but he’s heavier and and uh he’s got a great shot and he puts himself in positions to score and Axel with his puck play and and uh his skating. So, um, they all have really good attributes and and, uh, you know, I think they they make our team better and, uh, I’m, you know, I’m, uh, I’m I’m happy for those guys and it’s it’s welld deserved that that they’re here today. I don’t know how early Emtt was in Detroit or anything or if he was with you guys before Travers, but when did you kind of really notice that this was a guy that might be able to help you guys this season? Um, yeah. I mean, I think my first practice we had, he was uh he was here before um before training camp and um you know, the first first practice up in Traverse City uh where we scrimmaged and I think him and Lombardi who had a a great camp as well, they were flying around and and I saw him the next day and he he just continued to get better and better and and uh they threw a lot at all three of them and they all um responded well and I thought they all got better as as u as the months went on. His speed and pace kind of stands out in his game. Why is that so important for your line with with you and Lucas to have a guy who can bring that pace? Yeah, I think for you know any line he would play on his his feet just win pucks. He beats people to pucks with his feet and and he’s got sense to to what he wants to do with it next. and um throughout the preseason he created uh so much for us because he he got first touch and and got it to us and and uh and then he went and got open and uh you know I think that’s a that’s a big part of his game and and um you know he’s played with speed his whole career or his whole life I’m sure and he uh he thinks the game at at that at that speed so it’s fun to play with him. You guys have put in a lot of hard work over the last couple weeks in terms of leading up to the next three days and opening night. Are you guys feeling in a good place as a group? Yeah. Yeah, we are. Um, I think uh it’s um it’s been a really good training camp. We played a lot. you know, the the different structure of scrimmaging a lot more was was uh I think really beneficial and and uh you got up to game speed way quicker and the preseason games felt uh um you know where we were we were more ready to play I would say than than in in uh all the camps in the past that I’ve been a part of. So I thought the the structure of camp was great. Um the intensity was good. Um you know seeing the youth and and some of these kids come up and and and play well is is exciting. So, um, the locker room’s in a in a really good spot and and, uh, you know, we’re going to be, uh, going to the Tigers game tomorrow, so we’ll do a little root for them and and hopefully, uh, um, you know, be ready to go Thursday night. I think we’ll be ready. Is that team thing? Yeah. Yeah, we’re all going. Well, I’m excited for it. That intensity you talked about, how does that maybe help those young guys if they’re in the lineup Thursday, just being up to speed, if you will? Um, I mean, I think they’re they’re going to be flying. You know, they they’ll be they’ll be excited and ready to go. And, um, you know, the intensity we had in camp, I think, is uh um, you know, speaking personally, I feel most prepared for the for the season and coming out of a training camp I uh that I have in a while. So, I think uh, everyone should probably feel that as well. You kind of said during training camp, the identity of this team might be just the talented young kids and all that. Now you’re getting even younger maybe. I mean is it kind of like wow. I mean it’s kind of definitely a shift going on or something like that. I I mean I don’t know if it’s a shift those they’re they’re good players and um they’re here and and you know so we’ve earned they’ve earned it. Absolutely. Dylan the Tigers game tomorrow did that start taking shape as soon as you saw what the schedule will be for this round and that you guys would have a few days? Yeah. Yeah. Uh we were hoping it would be we’d be beat tonight, but with the travel and everything, it it is what it is. And uh you know, it’s it’s uh I don’t think last year we were able to go to a to a playoff game with with our schedule and their schedule. So um it’ll be my first first ever playoff baseball game, so I’m excited about it. Just hope it doesn’t, right? I know. I know. See what happens. What’s that anticipation like just sort of waiting? Uh, I mean, uh, yeah, it’s a little nerve-wracking, uh, you know, uh, um, it’s, uh, it’s a dream to be up here, uh, and I’m still here, so it must be a good sign so far. Uh, and yeah, we’ll see what happens. What would it mean to you to be on the roster? Uh, a lot. You know, this, uh, dream come true for every kid. Uh, I think, uh, ever since getting to know what the NHL is, that’s where you want to go. Uh um yeah, best on best hockey and you know it’s been a dream come true. Todd and a couple of players have talked about how the veterans in the room have kind of really embraced the young guys and how how much easier does that make it when you come into a room like that where everybody’s supportive of the younger guys coming in? Um yeah, it’s awesome. Uh, you know, since day one of camp here, I feel like uh, you know, everyone’s talkative, everyone’s like getting into the group in in some sort of way. So, uh, you know, it’s, uh, it’s comforting as a young guy coming in here. Uh, you know, uh, yeah, I wasn’t that nervous, but you know, there’s still some nerves coming into a whole new team, whole new locker room, new guys. So, uh, yeah. Yeah, it means means a lot. Did you skate with any of these guys over the summer or not so much? Uh Bergie came up to KFTO once uh for two three days or something like that and yeah that’s pretty much it him. Are you going to the Tigers game tomorrow if you’re here still? We’ll see. It would be it would be fun. I’ve been to one uh when they play the Mets I think. Yeah, they play the Mets. Uh so it’s fun. Uh might go watch. And did you do anything with Michael yesterday for his birthday or I went for dinner actually uh at some sushi place. So, um, got him a little cake. Did you Did you know much about baseball before you got here? No, no, not not a lot. I’m still still learning about everything. Uh, umpire or or strike strike or uh, yeah, all those kinds of stuff. So, I’m still learning. Be a little different atmosphere tomorrow than it was for the men. For sure. Yeah. Andy, the big question. Have the three rookies made the team? Well, they were here at practice today, so that’s a a real good sign for them. Uh, you know, we skated with 23 players. Um, obviously we’re allowed to to submit our opening roster with as many as 23. So, that’s obviously a real good sign for them. And, um, everything they’ve done to this point has led to them getting this day. And we’ll just take it day by day. Uh but uh again in practice today they were attentive, they were alert, um they executed, um they had a sense of belonging and the group embraced them. And it’s not easy for the group today because a couple of their good teammates, good friends weren’t here either. And that unfortunately is the the crappy part of the business and but yet the evolution of the business. And um but in any case, we I thought we had a good skate today and we’ll have another one tomorrow. defense is such a tough possession and you know Axel is his first year over here. Is it just the way he can play with the puck and especially what he may be able to do on the power play that makes him such an Well, yeah, like he’s um you know a heady player. What what does that mean? He’s got he’s got good eyes, good vision, anticipation skills. He’s um you know I’ve used the terms chess and checkers. He’s he can play chess every now and then on the ice and and that’s a a valuable thing to have. Um we believe he’s only going to get better as well. Like we’re we’re seeing him um you know evolve right in front of our eyes, but we think over time he’ll get better. Um with all first year players, Dylan Lark and Ben Sherro, they all played their their first game and had their first years. There’s ups and downs and there’s lessons to be learned along the way. Um, there’s going to be nights when when they drive home or we drive home and we’re a little disappointed in everything and then there’ll be a lot of joy the following night. It’s just the way it happens. Um, but everybody um, starting with them has to pull their their weight and then everybody else around at the coaching staff, teammates have to help them along uh, but still take care of our jobs and make sure that the rest of the team is focused as well. the amount of size that you guys have, at least from how the lines look today in the bottom half of the lineup, like how much of a priority was that for you guys to to have this year? Well, just that’s kind of the way it worked out. We didn’t necessarily have these lines um you know, penciled in on on July 1st. Um we didn’t anticipate all three kids playing here. Uh but the fact that there is some size um you know, in those slots is is valuable. Um, now size is one thing, it’s how you use the size and how effective it can be. Um, you know, so the potential for some grinding shifts, for some heavy shifts, for some um aggressive net play exists. It’s getting it out of them and them wanting to do it over and over again. If we can get there, then we really have something. And then in the last preseason game, it looked like Sandy Pelica, even in kind of on the breakout, was finding ways to get the puck. I know a lot of his assets are in the ozone, but is that an area that he can really help you guys as Yeah, when he has the puck, those should be his his strengths. Um, you know, as I said throughout training camp, if we’re seeing what we expect him to do well over and over again, that’s a real good thing. Um, there was a focus or a talk of, well, what can he defend? Can he do these other things? Well, we’re looking for that, too. But if if this first part doesn’t exist, it doesn’t even matter what you’re doing over here because you you don’t have the confidence. You’re not ready to do what you do really well. Um, as camp went on, he felt better and better with pucks and um, held on to him longer, made made good, smart plays, whether it was on the power play breakout or wherever. Um, so we saw him continue to grow that part of his game and work on the other part. Todd, are you pretty optimistic you’ll have JVR for Thursday or how does that look right now? Um, I can’t answer that question at this point. Um, you know, today he got involved physically. um the the first few days pregame skates, you know what, everybody gets off and there’s him and three other guys that are working. You don’t really get what you need there. Uh today’s practice was geared towards a pretty good working day. Lots of full ice stuff, a lot of grind stuff along the boards and in the corners. So, that was his first true taste of it. So, we’ll see where it all goes. Todd, if there’s three rookies on Thursday night, that’ll generate excitement with fans. Does it generate excitement in the room too? In a way it does. It’s it’s energizing. Um you know every every one of those 40 players us and Montreal um they all played their first game at some point somewhere and um you know the nervousness. You can reflect back. I think I said this the other day like Lens reflecting back what was it like when I first stepped on the ice. How nervous was I? What can I do to help this individual? It’s it’s energizing. It’s invigorating. Um, but make no doubt about it, if we’re relying on on three 20-year-olds to take us to the the wonderland right off the bat, that’s really unfair. Um, the rest of the group has to play their part in it as well. So, um, but it it is energizing right now. Todd, I I know things can change by Thursday, but for Finny, uh, you know, for for a guy who hasn’t played an NHL game to to be thrust into the top line like that with Larkin and Raymond and not be overwhelmed by the situation, what does that suggest about his confidence and his mental makeup? Um, well, it tells me that he’s pretty even keel. Um, he built for the moment a little bit. His skating allows him to get when he’s in trouble, his legs get him back into the play. If something goes wrong, he can skate his way back into it and he’s in it again. Um, we wouldn’t have him up there if we didn’t believe he was responsible defensively. Obviously, the offensive part will come, but he’s going to play against some good players and he has to be somewhat responsible there, but the big thing is if it doesn’t go well, he seems to get back into it quicker than a lot of guys and that’s a real good asset to have. Going back to Max’s question about size, just relating to Axel. He’s a smaller defender and and he’s but he move moves really well. Is it important to playing with a guy like Simon who can kind of take up some of that space physically? Um yes and no. Um really the the cohesiveness of of a pair isn’t always just built on big and small, long and you know tall and short or anything like that. It’s it’s how they use each other. And we still haven’t completely figured that out. Um I I think of a pair that we used in San Jose with Douggee Murray and Dan Bole. Um they complete opposite with size and power and the other one is smart puck mover. Uh but they got together and they figured out how they wanted to play as a pair and over time it really turned out well. Uh when you took one away from the other it was a disaster for the first few games because they’re so used to certain situations. Um we’re not there uh yet with this with this group and we still got to figure it all out. But um you know that could end up being a pair that make sense that way. And what are some of the foundations for them when you’re kind of looking on paper of maybe hey I could see them building here and things like that together. Yeah. Well, Simon’s got the the range and the reach and the size and the physicality. Um Axe will have the uh his range is a different type of range. Um he he’ll have to know how to play within his his reach. Uh but the puck moving skills and the the support for his partner, the eyes up ice. Um the creativity now they both have to defend and um what Simon’s 23 and Axe is 20. Um we’re asking them to play, you know, is it the one, two, three, four role? I don’t know what it is. Uh but we’re asking them to play in some key situations and we’re going to put some pressure on them whether they like it or not or whether we like it or not. That’s just the way it is. And um we believe they can get it done. And then last one for me, we we saw you run practice here from half year on. So first kind of been able to watch you run a training camp and watching like the drill today, the battle drill kind of grind the grinding things. How much can you do that over the course of a season when it comes to making that part of a mentality and a thing like that? or is it just build it now and then remember? Well, it’s it’s harder to do like the the day we had planned for today. Um, first of all, I think our our team’s heartbeat, if you will, got reset. Uh, we played Saturday, we all had Sunday off. Throughout camp, we had, you know, maybe Comfort playing back to back and Sherro not playing for three days. Like, it’s it’s it’s high here. Gas tanks are burnt burnt out here and empty down there. like it’s your heartbeat’s not together now. Our team’s heartbeats together. We should evolve and and move along as a group. And today we we discussed having a bit of a grind day. We haven’t had to to to get one of those since training camp where we played along the boards where we played and made decisions when we were tired. Um it’s not a lot of fun as a player, but that’s when a lot of mistakes are made. Um, and we wanted to get them to that point and then force them to either defend or play offense. Um, can you do that during the season? Well, we’re going to play 82 games in in a compressed schedule. We can push, but we also have to, you know, we got to know when to expend the energy and when not to. And um, that’s why you’ll hear us, we’ll talk about cleanout days. And that’s really just to to flush the system. we’re out real quick, just not a lot of physicality, move pucks, get off. But there are there are times and moments during the season when um that type of practice presents itself and there are times and moments throughout the season when the team needs it regardless of uh the moment. Uh they just need to be reminded um that there’s some things that are are necessary. Um so that’s that’s how those evolve. All good.

Dylan Larkin, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and Todd McLellan speak with the media following Detroit’s practice on Monday October 6, 2025 at Little Caesars Arena.