The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article this morning which discusses the Red Wings’ roster as in flux heading into the 8-games-in-11-nights exhibition season. She also noted that Wings coach Jeff Blashill has high expectations for Lucas Raymond, should he attempt to make the team out of training camp:
At the other end of the career spectrum is Raymond, a 5-11, 182-pound winger who has spent the past couple seasons in the Swedish Hockey League. Blashill joked that “it should be clear to my wife that (Raymond) should be on the hockey team” — meaning the 19-year-old will have to dominate his shifts, more so than a veteran.
“They’re both going to get chances with good players, and then they have to go out and grab jobs,” Blashill said. “Bobby [Ryan] has been through this before; Lucas is new to it but I think he’s a kid who would love a job and wants a job. Wants to do everything he can. He certainly understands if he’s not ready to play a primetime role for us, that he’ll start in Grand Rapids, and if that’s the case, he’ll be determined to work his way back up. That’s the type of person he is.
“Both of them are going to get opportunities, both of them are going to get a good number of games, and that goes for a number of guys. We have guys like Taro Hirose and Riley Barber that had really good years in the AHL. They’re going to get a number of games.”
Blashill debated dividing the 40-odd players into Detroit and Grand Rapids squads, but “I don’t know who’s on that Detroit team yet. We’ll use exhibition season to determine who’s on that team.
“Whoever can grab a job, grab a job. I think it’s as competitive as it’s been here in a long time.”
Continued (paywall)
