The Detroit Red Wings entered the 2022 National Hockey League free agency period with over $30 million in cap space, and they certainly put it to good use. General manager Steve Yzerman was among the busiest executives in hockey earlier this month, bringing aboard the likes of Andrew Copp, David Perron, Dominik Kubalik, Olli Maatta, and Ben Chiarot. And that was already on top of his acquisition of goaltender Ville Husso from the St. Louis Blues the previous week.

Captain Dylan Larkin has only played in a single Stanley Cup postseason series, and that was in his rookie season of 2015-16; he and the Red Wings were quickly dispatched by the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. And he's looking forward to the challenge that comes with heightened expectations following his team's many additions. 

"The team's spending money on some very skilled players (and) a lot of pieces that we needed," Larkin said while participating in the Rocket Mortgage Classic's Area 313 Celebrity Scramble yesterday at the Detroit Golf Club. "I'm very excited for the pressure going into camp. We've got the pieces. Now we've got to do something with it."

Larkin explained that he's already reached out to several of his new teammates in order to get the acclamation process moving, and that everyone can't wait to get started. 

"There's a lot of new faces," Larkin said. "We're going to have to mesh quickly. I've already spoke to a lot of the new signings. Everyone's excited, everyone's very knowledgeable about the players we have and what we added.

"What I like most is the (new guys') skill level ... I haven't been this excited for going into camp and going into the season in quite some time. There's huge upside for our team, we just have to go out and prove it."

We're certainly hopeful for a return to the postseason in short order for the new-look Red Wings.