The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article regarding one Moritz Seider this morning, discussing the Red Wings rookie’s progression as witnessed by Wings player development specialist Niklas Kronwall, Wings coach Jeff Blashill and teammate Sam Gagner:
“He’s got a lot of good natural attributes that you’d like in an NHL defenseman,” Kronwall told the Free Press on Saturday. “That goes along with his personality — he’s very driven, he wants to improve. There’s a lot to like about Mo.”
Since retiring in 2019 having won a Stanley Cup and having played all of his 953 NHL games with the Wings, Kronwall has worked as the team’s director of European Player Development. Kronwall, a first-round pick in 2000, has been on the ice through the first three days of training camp with Seider, working on his shot.
“It’s rare to a have a guy who can both play with the puck and play with a natural feistiness that he has,” Kronwall. said. “He had a really, really good year in Sweden. I am very anxious to watch him in games here and see what he can do.”
Seider has been paired in practices at Centre Ice with newcomer Nick Leddy, a veteran defenseman acquired in the offseason. Coach Jeff Blashill described it as “a starting point:”
“You’ve got a really good skater in Leddy; you’ve got a really big guy in Moritz. Both have the opportunity to jump up in the play. I think having that veteran presence, we felt like it could be a really good match and they could see some significant minutes together.”
Continued (paywall)
