Larionov won the Stanley Cup three times with the Detroit Red Wings (1997, 1998, 2002) and was inducted as a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame on 10 November 2008.

He improved to 45 points in 43 games in 1980–81, garnering the attention of CSKA Moscow and Soviet national team coach Viktor Tikhonov.

He notched five assists that game against Tikhonov's team and the following season, joined CSKA Moscow as the top-line centre between Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov.

Despite the success, Larionov resisted Tikhonov's draconian coaching style and the Soviet system that had a tight grip on the players' personal lives.

"[6] Larionov also recounted suspicious injections that national team players would receive annually leading up to the World Championships.

They were sold in order to infuse the cash-strapped Sovintersport (the governing body for sports in the former Soviet Union), which would draw a portion of the players' salaries.

After his three-year contract with the Canucks had expired, Larionov chose to play a year in Switzerland so that Sovintersport would not continue to draw a portion of his salary.

The Sharks then upset the heavily favoured Detroit Red Wings in the opening round of the playoffs and extended the Toronto Maple Leafs to seven games in the Conference Semi-Finals before falling.

During the 1995–96 season, the re-building Sharks traded Larionov along with a conditional draft pick to the Detroit Red Wings for forward sniper Ray Sheppard.

He and Fetisov were looked on as father figures by the team's other Russian players, which included Sergei Fedorov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Vladimir Konstantinov.

That summer, Larionov and his Russian teammates made history by bringing the famed Cup home to Russia for the first time ever.

Brunflo is the same team that his former linemate in CSKA Moscow and the Soviet Union, Vladimir Krutov, ended his career with ten years earlier.

On the international stage, playing for the Soviet Union, Larionov centered Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov on the famed "KLM Line".

He was an instrumental member of the Soviet squad that won the 1981 Canada Cup (this tournament was the coming out of the KLM Line) and played in the 1984 and 1987 events as well.