MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the increasing urgency for the Red Wings to re-sign restricted free agents Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider with the start of training camp looming next week, and Khan believes that both players have been offered 8-year contracts, but he suggests that Dylan Larkin’s salary remains the team’s “internal salary cap”:
Seider figures to come in slightly higher than Raymond because he is by far their best defenseman and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. He logs the most minutes, always against the opposition’s best, and plays in all situations. He won the Calder Trophy in 2022 as the NHL’s top rookie.
Raymond, with his tremendous hockey sense and offensive skills, looked like a budding star late in the season when he dominated many games and delivered in big moments, with 14 goals and 21 points in the final 18 games, finishing with career highs of 31 goals and 72 points.
Eighteen months ago, general manager Steve Yzerman locked up captain Dylan Larkin for eight years at an average annual value of $8.7 million. The club wanted $8 million; the player wanted $9 million. They compromised slightly in the player’s favor.
This is different. Seider and Raymond don’t have the same leverage as RFAs.
One thing is certain. Neither will be paid more than Larkin, the face of the franchise through one of the roughest stretches in its nearly 100-year history.
Continued (paywall); we’ll just have to wait and see how things shake out between now and the start of the regular season.
