The Athletic’s Corey Pronman posted a ranking of Calder Trophy candidates this morning, and three of his top 20 players eligible for this year’s award are Red Wings:
3. Moritz Seider, RHD, Detroit: It’s rare for defensemen who aren’t projected to put up huge point totals to make a dent in the Calder race, but Seider has a very good chance to do that. I think with great skating, size and physicality he’ll play real minutes, make a lot of stops, and has enough transition and puck-moving ability to put up solid offensive numbers as a rookie.
8. Alex Nedeljkovic, G, Detroit: One of the Calder finalists last season seems like a player you have to find a way to get into this type of projection. Nedeljkovic is a very quick and intelligent goalie who had a great season in Carolina before being traded to Detroit. Because of his size there are still some skeptics among NHL scouts about whether he can repeat that or tread water as more of an average starter, but even if he’s that type of player, that would still be very valuable.
10. Lucas Raymond, RW, Detroit: I’m a big Raymond fan but even I was slightly surprised at how good his NHL camp was and the type of opportunity he’s getting initially in Detroit. You see that his tremendous skill and sense have translated immediately in the way he can navigate and see the ice in the offensive zone just like he did at other levels. He’s not the biggest or quickest winger, so I anticipate some bumpy stretches, but I think he’ll help Detroit, especially on its power play.
Continued (paywall); I actually agree with Pronman’s critiques here.
Seider is working on his offensive game, but playing with Nick Leddy should help Seider become more demonstrative with the puck as the season progresses;
Nedeljkovic just isn’t very big by today’s gargantuan-sized goalie standards at only 6′ tall, but as he adjusts to playing in Detroit, he should at least rebound and become a valuable part of the Wings’ goaltending tandem;
And no, Raymond doesn’t have a lot of speed, but he’s such a gifted puck-mover that his lack of top-end speed doesn’t matter–he lets the puck do the work and gets to the right spot on the ice so as to maximize his scoring potential.
