DobberProspects.com’s Hadi Kalakeche penned a column about the Calder Trophy candidates today, and she’s effusive in her praise for Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider.
She also makes a good point about Raymond’s scoring slump of late: he IS just coming off the COVID list, and might not be at 100% yet:
Lucas Raymond Cleared for Return: In case you’ve missed every scout’s anguished screams on Twitter over the last few weeks, Lucas Raymond missed a couple of Red Wings games due to a positive COVID-19 test. He was released from the NHL’s COVID protocol on December 30th, and returned to play the next day against the Washington Capitals. He was kept off the scoresheet in that game and the next against Boston, bringing his season total to a rookie-leading 28 points in 33 games.
That’s right, Raymond still leads the NHL’s rookies in scoring despite his absence and two scoreless games. That’s how impressive his season totals are. Not only that, but he sits three points clear of second place, and has earned a first-line spot next to Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin due to his impressive pace and puck skills. Very few prospects manage the offensive zone like Raymond does, and despite many scouts doubting how quickly he’d be NHL-ready (myself included, I’m not afraid to admit that I predicted Raymond would play a full AHL season before making his NHL debut), he has proved himself to be not only a top NHL prospect, but a top NHL player.
The intricacy and level of layered play-reading that Raymond has displayed so far in his very young NHL career makes me believe that the Red Wings have their premier offensive weapon for the next 20 years. Sitting two points behind Larkin in team scoring, the dynamic Swedish winger has displayed the ability to run his team, and doesn’t seem anywhere close to slowing down. There are so many of his tremendous plays that haven’t resulted in goals, that I feel confident saying that Raymond isn’t a bush-fire. He’s the real deal.
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Moritz Seider: Just Good at This Whole Hockey Thing: When it comes to defense prospects playing their rookie season this year, none hold a candle to Moritz Seider. Hi defensive game is beyond refined: it’s elite. He breaks down plays and prevents zone entries with frightening regularity, and can manage NHL bodies like few 20-year-old defensemen ever have.
The German blueliner is up to 21 points in 33 games so far, and it really seems like nothing in his game is forced. NHL hockey just comes easily to him, and he uses his poise to delay and find options that lesser blueliners would never even begin to think of.
With their other defense prospect Simon Edvinsson exceeding expectations overseas so far, the Detroit Red Wings might just have their top pairing for the next 20 years. You don’t trade Moritz Seiders; you lock them up forever, and hope they re-sign after that. I’d be far from surprised if, five years from now, we aren’t looking at a Norris winner out of Seider. If I had my word to say on the matter, the Red Wings’ defenseman would be this year’s Calder winner. But we all know that points are paramount in determining the winner, so it’ll probably go to his teammate Lucas Raymond.
Continued with praise for Trevor Zegras, who seems to be the media darling right now…
