The Athletic’s Max Bultman has already examined part of the answers discerned from a survey of 2,100 Red Wings fans, and today, he examines the second part of his survey. Bultman reports that fans’ expectations of Moritz Seider are…surprisingly reasonable?
Question 1: What are your expectations for RHD Moritz Seider’s rookie season?
I was admittedly a bit nervous to look at the results to this question. Seider has been excellent since the Red Wings drafted him sixth in 2019 — so good that The Athletic’s Corey Pronman recently ranked him as the No. 17 U23 player in the world (including those already in the NHL) — and the potential for him to become a minute-munching, top-pair defenseman is clear. And yet, when a prospect like that is coming into a situation like Detroit’s — where hope has been hard to come by at the NHL level lately — it’s fair to wonder whether there will be too much pressure to be a superstar immediately.
Respondents, though, had a rather reasonable outlook on what Seider’s rookie year might look like. The most popular answer, at 45 percent, was that he would make a quick difference and hold his own in the top four all year — still an optimistic prediction by any definition, but one that has merit after Seider was the SHL’s top defenseman last season at 19. Perhaps more interestingly, though: a much higher percentage of readers (38.4 percent) expect Seider to take some early lumps than the percentage that expect him to be a Calder Trophy finalist (14.2 percent) or win it outright (2.1 percent). That’s a much more measured outlook heading into the defenseman’s (presumed) first year at the NHL level.
Continued (paywall); I think that Seider will have some difficulties adjusting to the smaller rink (the international rink is 100 feet wide as opposed to the NHL’s 85-foot-wide rink), faster pace of the NHL and the fact that NHL players have probably seen highlights of Seider lighting up SHL players with heavy hits, too…But I do expect him to have a fairly good rookie season.
What tempers my expectations is the memory of Anders Erikkson. The Hockey News had him rated as their number one player not currently in the NHL in their Prospect Special Issue (or whatever they called it) in 1996, and he was never anything better than a third pairing defenseman in the NHL.
I drank the Hockey News koolaid about him and was shocked when they parted with him in the Chelios deal, but clearly they ended up winning that deal. That memory is the only thing keeping me from handing Seider the Calder right now, because everything I’ve seen of him has me stoked to see what he can do in the NHL. Winning Defenseman of the Year in the SHL is no small feat.
Oh Geez, I remember “Bubba” Eriksson very well. There were so many hopes that he would be the next franchise defenseman, and the kid that would afford the Wings some cushion after Konstantinov got hurt, but that’s not what happened at all. Eriksson was a solid defenseman at the pro level in a 4-5-6 role, but that’s it.
Regarding Seider and the narrower rink. Remember he has played in GR for a whole season. He will be fine.
Seider actually seems to learn very quickly. I think his knowledge of the game is high. He has progressed very quickly. Like Mr Lidstrom who didn’t get rattled a lot who also had high Hockey smarts, Seider will change his style, “play like what got you there”.
A short stint in GR will be positive for him.