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Hey ⁦@NHL⁩ ⁦@DetroitRedWings⁩ Lucas Raymond is a good looking kid, let’s get a pic up! pic.twitter.com/Jm6fckklBw

— Stuttering Guitarist (@TheJeremyLaura) October 26, 2021

My previous article: Lucas Raymond got his first hat trick at 19

Lucas Raymond is surprising people. He’s getting the kind of excitement that fans have been hungry for. Yzerman began to call the young winger’s number in interviews over the summer more and more. The press likes to try and push a narrative and create a story line, Raymond wasn’t it at first. Questions focused on Veleno, and Yzerman kept going back to Raymond.

The NHL wasn’t ready for him, literally. They still don’t have a picture up for his profile as of 2:00 PM today. EA Sports wasn’t ready for him. It took 3 updates to get Raymond on the NHL roster, but his overall rating (they have him at 77) has him on the 3rd or fourth line. It’s just a case of some overlooked details. (To be fair, Seider is on the team but his overall has him as the third line or healthy scratch).

Genuine surprises are harder and harder to come by. In fact, they’re normally negative. It feels like every “unexpected” bit of news for a while tends to be of the bummer variety. Raymond is good news right now.

Veleno will still get his call up at some point. He’s the top forward prospect in Grand Rapids right now. Unfortunately, Detroit has a 2nd line center issue and JV isn’t the solution at this point. The top line looks good early in the season. The second line really hasn’t come together yet. Suter just isn’t comfortable yet and his downgrade at wing just seems to be a glaring issue.

It’s so early in the season. This really isn’t “panic time” (Toronto and Chicago are sounding the alarm). The first ten game segment is a weird one. I’ve touched on it a bit, but of the players in the top 6, only Zadina played most of last season. Bert and Larkin have history and they’re starting to click. Fabbri had COVID and injuries, Suter is brand new. Training camp, the more I look back at it, was really not well “thought out” this year. So much more should have been settled by the time the season started.

Tomorrow night’s game vs. Washington is going to be an interesting look. The Caps gave up a lot of goals last night, but scored 7. Ovechkin is 4 goals away from tying Brett Hull for 4th all time at 741. That’s a lot of momentum and a lot of excitement early in the season.

I’ll touch base on this more with the pregame write up, but this early part of the season for Ovechkin is a return to the excitement for one of the all time greats. He could very well stand alone at 3rd in goals scored behind just Howe and Gretzky at the end of this season. That’s Mt. Rushmore territory for a player who gets a lot of criticism whenever I do a write up. It’s a game I’m going to enjoy for several reasons. Seeing the future of Detroit and seeing one of the best to ever tickle the twine is a good night.



Read my previous posts:

Lucas Raymond got his first hat trick at 19

Wings vs Hawks postgame

Wings vs Montreal Postgame

Wings vs Canadiens pregame

Soderblom leads Frolunda in goals

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