Two Budding Stars Brighten Red Wings Bleak Picture

At 11-13-4, the Detroit Red Wings sit just one point north of the Eastern Conference's cellar.  The immediate picture is bleak and reaching the playoffs (the only clear path to year-over-year improvement) seems like an almost fantastical dream.   However, in the continued growth of Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson (neither of them unknown commodities by any means entering the season), Detroit can salvage room for hope about the future.

After a slow start to the season in the goal column, Raymond is up to 11 goals and 19 assists for 30 points in 28 games.  As defenseman Moritz Seider put it, "I wouldn't necessarily think it's a streaky phase. I think it's just who he is, just obviously our best player on the ice."  Coach Derek Lalonde described Raymond as an "assertive, go to" presence in the Red Wings' lineup, saying, "Obviously he's scoring, playing at a high level, playing in every situation...He can drive us...He's winning a lot of shifts. When he's on the ice, we're a pretty good team, and I think that speaks volumes with him."

Meanwhile, Edvinsson has grown into his top pairing role beside Seider, helping the German manage the difficult match-ups Lalonde has routinely cast him into.  "I'm just more happy with his elevated role, playing the top pair, and what they're doing as a top pair with some really hard match-ups," Lalonde said of Edvinsson yesterday.  "The offense has been great.  It's coming.  We've asked so much of him."

When asked specifically about how Edvinsson has made Seider's job easier, Lalonde replied, "Being able to self-breakout, being able to get stops, being able to be long.  It's pretty impressive.  I hate [to] keep referring to underlying numbers, because maybe it's just today's NHL, but those two have been spectacular because they're not spending time in their zone, and those are really hard match-ups.  So I just think he helps move the zones.  He get stops.  He gets breakouts."

In the featured video above, I discussed Raymond and Seider's continued growth, budding stardom, and significance to the overall health of the Steve Yzerman–led Red Wings.

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