Detroit Red Wings' Dylan Larkin, Alex Lyon to compete for USA at World Championship
With the Detroit Red Wings' chase for a playoff spot coming up just short, Dylan Larkin and Alex Lyon will instead be playing in May for their country.
USA Hockey announced Wednesday that Larkin and Lyon are among the first 15 players selected to compete at the IIHF Men's World Championship, set for May 10-26 in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia.
"We’ve got an outstanding start to our roster," Team USA general manager Brett Peterson said in a statement. "There’s a lot of excitement among our players, and everyone is looking forward to representing our country in the world championship."
Team USA will train in Bratislava, Slovakia, starting May 5 and play a pre-tournament game there against Slovakia on May 7. The U.S. will open play against Sweden on May 10 in Ostrava. All U.S. games in the tournament will air live on NHL Network.
The U.S. has finished in the top four of the IIHF Men’s World Championship in seven of the past 10 tournaments with four bronze medals to its credit (2013, 2015, 2018, 2021).
Larkin, 27, first played at the World Championship in 2015, when he served mostly in a defensive role (he had one assist in 10 games) and won a bronze medal. In 2016, he had two goals and seven assists in 10 games. In 2017, he was an alternate captain and second on the team with two goals and eight assists in eight games. The next year, he again served as an alternate captain and had three goals and six assists in the 10 games it took the U.S. to win bronze. He last played in the tournament in 2019, when he had three goals and two assists in seven games as the U.S. finished seventh.
While Larkin is an old hand at the event, Lyon's sole experience at Worlds dates to 2015, when he appeared in one game. Being named among the first 15 this year is a credit to what a remarkable season he had, rising from No. 3 to No. 1 on the Wings' depth chart. After not playing the first five weeks, Lyon, 31, took advantage of opportunity —created by Ville Husso's injury — to become the starter and appeared in 44 games.
CREASE CONCERNS: Ville Husso says he'll be healthy for next season, but Detroit Red Wings have to be smart
The Wings' elimination from playoff contention on April 16, in the season finale, freed up personnel to take part in the tournament, a prestigious event with rosters generally forged from players who don't make or are eliminated early from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Coaches like the event, too: Wings boss Derek Lalonde said he would say yes if he were called to flesh out the staff headed up by Minnesota's John Hynes, who was named head coach last week.
More Wings are likely to participate, though both Moritz Seider (Germany) and Lucas Raymond (Sweden) cited the need for their respective national teams to carry insurance to offset the fact both players are up for new — and large — contracts.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings' Dylan Larkin, Alex Lyon to play for USA at Worlds
