Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen penned a subscriber-only article regarding Lucas Raymond making the team, noting that Raymond will have to step into Jakub Vrana’s shoes to some extent, and Allen also discusses the parallels between Raymond and both Dylan Larkin and a certain Moritz Seider:
(Vrana) is a big player in this team and then of course when a player like him gets injured, it opens up a spot,” Raymond said. “And I think everyone during the training camp had a chance to get in that spot.”
But it was Raymond who took advantage of it. The Red Wings only had one real roster spot open up front. Veteran Bobby Ryan was released from his tryout contract Monday. Another promising rookie, Joe Veleno, was sent to Grand Rapids yesterday. He had played solidly in training camp, but doesn’t boast the offensive magic that Raymond commands.
Jonatan Berggren might have had a shot, but he was injured early in training camp and never really got going. He also ended up in Grand Rapids.
It’s interesting to note that Seider and Raymond, the only two prospects to make the team, were Yzerman’s first round picks over the previous two seasons. Raymond is moving in with Seider. Raymond said early in training camp that Veleno had been his “Uber Driver.” Seider just bought a new car. “So now he has that spot,” Raymond said.
Continued (paywall)
