Quick update, Detroit has signed Lucas Raymond to his ELC. While his campaign in Sweden didn’t yield outstanding number (6goals, 12 assists in 34 games) Raymond is an incredible skater with high intensity and a solid work ethic. Detroit’s highest draft pick since taking Keith Primeau at 3rd in 1990, Raymond could have a chance to compete for an NHL job next season.
Detroit has looked like a completely different team in the past three games. A two game sweep of Carolina followed by a 4-1 victory over the Blackhawks gave Detroit its first 3 game win streak of the season. Greiss is being rewarded for the fantastic efforts he’s given all year, and it’s nice to see more than 1 or 2 goals per game.
The Youtube channel “ice hockey gifs” put together a really nice set of clips on Detroit’s top defensive (if not overall) prospect Moritz Seider. Some of the more enjoyable footage contains a Swedish hockey round table and features Staffan Kronwall, younger brother to Nick and former NHL player.
The excitement about Seider is something to behold. Kronwall referred to him as the best defender in the Swedish league (not the best 19 year old, the best overall). The clips showing his physicality garnered Nick Kronwall comparisons (thought Moritz is a bit taller) and his skating is almost unreal.
One of the things you’ll notice if you watch the video is his pregame ritual. So many times it’s just players out there, shooting pucks and getting their flow. Moritz does some odd looking leans on his front skate, and some drills walking the blue line with one foot outside of it. He stops short, but it becomes clear he’s testing all of his edges. The leaning is the posture to go from defending to shooting, or to switch from standing to skating. He’s using the time to make sure his blades are “perfect” for his game. Lidstrom used to have an impressive ritual that was similar. It was all about testing his skates, go back to the bench if they need to be tweaked, etc. Once you realize what they’re doing, the high level of understanding and compete is impressive.
Seider doesn’t look like a “big frame”, but the way he swats off opposing players makes it look like he’s hardly moving. This reminds me of another favorite player in Pavel Datsyuk. Pav didn’t look like a “beast” but his leg and core strength were insane. Players would bounce off of him and stare in disbelief. Pav’s lower half was so impressively strong that he was playing without several tendons in his feet without knowing it. (Chris Chelios played for years without an ACL on one leg. Apparently his quad strength helped him power through, though he didn’t know either until he had a surgery).
It’s difficult to temper expectations when pundits across multiple platforms (as well as continents) continue to marvel at this young defenseman. Moritz has an impressive depth of self awareness. “People same I’m overrated, or that I was taken too high in the draft”. He’s committed himself to disproving the skeptics. Having Seider hit the ice for Detroit is going to be incredibly exciting. While still a very young prospect, he looks to be a key part of Yzerman’s vision to return Detroit to cup contention.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»