MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a prospect tournament notebook in which he discusses the play of prospect Lucas Raymond, the Red Wings’ struggles against the “chippy” St. Louis Blues and the up-and-down performance of one Sebastian Cossa on Saturday night:
Raymond leads the Detroit Red Wings with three goals, displaying some of the skills and hockey sense that made him the fourth overall selection in 2020.
But it’s the 19-year-old right wing’s competitiveness and play without the puck that has impressed Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon, who is coaching the prospects team.
“He’s competing, he’s working hard,” Simon said following Saturday’s 5-2 loss to St. Louis at Centre I.C.E. Arena in Traverse City. “I think (his scoring) is the result of his play away from the puck and his willingness to get to the hard-to-score areas. He’s been good on the power play with his patience and composure. We’ve used him on the PK.
“When things got a little bit rough and chippy, he got frustrated initially in the first period, but he kept his work boots on and really continued to fight through. I thought he showed a little bit of resilience in that regard and was extremely happy with the way he competed.”
Continued; Raymond will not be playing in tonight’s game vs. Columbus, probably for precautionary reasons.
