The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed a mailbag article this morning, discussing when Dylan Larkin might earn the captain’s “C,” answering some offbeat questions, and discussing the Wings’ options in terms of Moritz Seider’s playing future:
HSJ: Moritz Seider’s Geman Hockey League team, Mannheim Adler, starts preseason games this month and begins the regular season Sept. 13. The Wings, however, plan to have Seider, their top selection (sixth overall) from the 2019 draft, at prospects camp and main camp. Those run Sept. 6-16 in Traverse City, followed by a nine-game exhibition season. Then Yzerman and his hockey operations staff will decide where Seider is best off to start the 2019-20 season.
Mannheim is the defending champion and Seider would be a valuable member of the lineup, getting top minutes.
There’s a strong argument for keeping Seider, 18, in North America, too, beyond adjusting to the smaller ice sheet.
The Wings signed Seider, 6-foot-4, 207 pounds, to a three-year entry-level contract in July. If he doesn’t look NHL ready, they could put him in Grand Rapids. He’d be playing on a team that potentially includes fellow top prospects Dennis Cholowski, Filip Zadina, Joe Veleno and Evgeny Svechnikov. The Wings could take a nine-game look at Seider at the NHL level (like they did last season with Zadina) without triggering the contract.
