The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a list of 11 thoughts and observations regarding the Red Wings’ play during the prospect tournament. Among them:
He didn’t play in the Sunday finale for precautionary reasons, but Lucas Raymond may have been Detroit’s best player in Saturday’s game against St. Louis. That may seem obvious because he scored both goals — and they were strong goals — but overall he looked much more comfortable in that game. Raymond told me Sunday morning he was feeling exactly that way Saturday, compared to Thursday.
His shot was highly effective against St. Louis, first scoring off a turnover down low and then later from distance on the power play. Play seemed to run through Raymond when Detroit had the man advantage.
…
[Joe] Veleno was one of Detroit’s top players through the weekend. That said, he didn’t necessarily dominate quite to the extent one might have expected as a third-time player with NHL experience, especially on the scoresheet. Part of that was decidedly beyond his control — one of his linemates (Berggren) was injured in the first period of the second game, and the other (Raymond) was scratched from the third, leaving him with a revolving cast of linemates the rest of the way. And production certainly is not everything. But still, seeing Veleno have just two points in three games (once the aforementioned assist gets properly credited to Tyutyayev) after totaling 15 in eight games in his previous two tournaments (which occurred two and three years ago) wasn’t the ideal way to begin a roster push.
Still, if he can show he can thrive at the highest level this preseason, he still has plenty of runway to make his case.
Continued (paywall)
