Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:
- NHL.com has updated its Lucas Raymond re-signing story with quotes from both Steve Yzerman and Raymond’s mid-morning press conferences, via NHL.com’s Tracey Myers:
“Obviously very happy we got it done ahead of training camp,” Raymond said Tuesday. “Of course, you always want it to get done as quickly as possible but that’s the way it goes.
“I felt a huge difference coming into last year, just the way you see the game, the way you handle yourself off ice. And I mean that on ice as well. There are obviously areas I want to keep growing in, keep developing, taking bigger strides, taking more responsibility and getting higher expectations on myself. For sure, that’s the goal. I’m still 22, so hopefully I have a lot of development to still do.”
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman pointed to Raymond’s strong finish to last season, when he had 21 points (14 goals, seven assists) in Detroit’s last 18 games, and completed his campaign with 11 points (six goals, five assists) in a six-game point streak.
“Well, he certainly down the stretch took his game to another level production-wise,” Yzerman said Tuesday. “We didn’t base everything on the last 20 games, but it certainly has an impact. But I felt throughout the season he continued to get better. There was a significant growth from year two to year three. Actually, year two was pretty good (45 points; 17 goals, 28 assists in 74 games), production was down a little bit, but it was a good year for him and a learning season.
“He grinded it out, had a very good offseason last year and came in and played really well and then took off down the stretch. We were not shocked by that. We were obviously very pleased how he finished the season and showed he has the ability to play at a higher level and he did that in all aspects.
“You can never guarantee how production goes, but I expect him to be one of our top players again. I expect his game to continue to grow this year. Last year helped his case a lot. … we were thrilled to see him play that well.”
Continued, with this quip about the Moritz Seider contract negotiations:
“We continue to talk, Yzerman said. “I’m hopeful we can get a deal done at some point. Obviously sooner than later would be better for both parties. I don’t think we’re terribly far apart but hopefully we can progress and get him here as soon as possible.
2. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a summary of Yzerman and Raymond’s remarks as well…
Raymond was excited to get the business part of things done before the start of the hockey season.
“Very happy to get it done ahead of training camp,” Raymond said on a Zoom call. “Of course, you always want to get it done as quick as possible, but it’s the way it goes, the way of business.”
The Wings have made steady progress under Yzerman, and for the last two seasons, coach Derek Lalonde. But the Wings have now missed the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons.
“I want to see progress, progress in our teams as a whole, progress in all the areas we’ve always talked about, and individually from our younger players,” Yzerman said. “As long as we’re moving in the right direction, it’s positive.
“Making the playoffs would be another positive step. I’ll worry about that as the season goes along and we’ll see how much progress we’re making.”
3. As did the Free Press’s Helene St. James…
Now that he has locked up Lucas Raymond for eight years, will Moritz Seider be far behind?
“We continue to talk,” Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said Tuesday. “I’m hopeful we can get a deal done at some point – sooner than later would be better for both parties. I don’t think we’re terribly far apart but we’ll hopefully we can progress to get him here as soon as possible.”
The “here” would be ideally be Traverse City, where the Wings are slated to begin training camp Thursday. It’s not the biggest deal if Seider misses that – but the longer it drags out, the more disruptive it will be.
4. And MLive’s Ansar Khan:
“We didn’t base everything on the last 20 games, but it certainly has an impact,” Yzerman said. “But I felt throughout the season he continued to get better. There was a significant growth from year two to year three and actually year two was pretty good. Production was down a little bit, but it was a good year for him and a learning season and he grinded it out.”
Raymond rebounded after committing himself to gaining strength in the 2023 offseason. He won more battles and was stronger on the puck.
“I’m not the biggest guy out there, but you get in those situations, you get physical,” Raymond said. “That usually helps you get into the game a little bit easier. And I felt that was a big thing.”
Said Yzerman: “We’re obviously very pleased with the way he finished the season and showed that he has the ability to play at a higher level and he did that in all aspects. I can never guarantee how production goes, but I expect him to be one of our top players again. I expect his game to continue to grow this year. But last year, obviously it helped his case a lot. He really helped his cause, and we were thrilled to see him play that well.”
Raymond is confident he can pick up where he left off.
“I didn’t feel like I did anything extra,” he said. “It just came together good. If you look at my season, it didn’t really change anything. Kept playing the same way and got a little bit of a different result. I think I figured out a lot of things about my game, what makes me good and to be able to do that on a consistent basis.”
Update: Here’s a bit more from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:
In the end, the Lucas Raymond contract negotiation probably ended up where it should have ended up. He received an eight-year deal paying him an average of 8.075 million per season.
In terms of comparable, his number landed between Carolina’s Seth Jarvis (eight years, $7.9 million AAV) and Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle (eight years, $8.35 million AAV). Stutzle had 70 points in 75 games, while Raymond had 72 in 82 and Jarvis managed 67 points in 81. Stutzle had registered 39 goals and 90 points in 2022-23
…
This is life-altering money for Raymond, but this deal could also end up being a win for the Red Wings if Raymond continues to improve. We will likely see more players earning $10 million per season if the salary cap continues to rise.
