Lucas Raymond spent the offseason in the same fog that surrounded the Detroit Red Wings, but the early returns suggest he’s not just weathering it - he’s pushing through to another level.
The slow start was real. Even after a move to the third line, Raymond kept showing signs that the production from previous seasons wasn’t a fluke.
He hasn’t been riding shotgun on someone else’s success. He’s proving he can drive a line himself, and the absence of his usual running mate Dylan Larkin may have opened the door for that growth.
What’s showing up now is a more composed player. Raymond has looked calmer when teammates get out of hand or head to the box early, and part of that seems tied to his role as a mentor for younger players. He wants to keep them safe and be the steady voice when something needs to be relayed to the bench through the referees.
That’s a different version of Raymond than the fiery young player from even a season ago. Playing alongside Moritz Seider, who brings a more even-keeled style than a guy like Larkin, may have helped shape that.
But maturity hasn’t dulled his edge. Raymond still has the drive to keep climbing, and he’s willing to carry whatever line he’s on to a win.
For a lot of players, losing a steady linemate would have been a setback. Raymond has done the opposite.
The numbers back it up, too. Per HockeyStatCards on Twitter, Raymond opened the year in the bottom percentile of their NHL net-rating model before surging to “almost top 10%” by the end of October. He also has 14 points and has kept improving as the season has gone on.
JFresh, who has often been a thorn in the side of Red Wings fans, offered another sign of Raymond’s rise by including him and Seider on a Box WAR Team of the Week.
Raymond’s production has climbed quickly after a quiet beginning. It took him three games to record his first point, a three-point night against the Ottawa Senators, and nine games to score his first goal.
Since then, he’s been rolling. Through 18 games as of November 10, he has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points.
Three of those goals and six of those assists have come on the power play. He’s also logged only six penalty minutes while averaging a little over 20 minutes a night, the highest workload of his career.
Two of his goals have been game winners, which makes him the team leader in that category.
He could have added to that total against the Tampa Bay Lightning, too.
The line of Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Andrew Copp has held steady since Larkin’s departure, and Raymond has fit right in. Brandsegg-Nygård has brought a new level of confidence, throwing hits, firing pucks and creating for teammates. His presence gives Raymond room to operate, and that space matters.
Copp, meanwhile, still looks like the kind of back-checking forward fans love to gripe about, but he’s doing the dirty work that lets Brandsegg-Nygård and Raymond attack without worrying about everything else.
Even when the Red Wings shuffled things last Tuesday night, with the exception of the Emmitt Finnie, Alex DeBrincat and Viktor Arvidsson line, Raymond kept creating offense with J.T. Compher and Michael Rasmussen. Those are two players many Wings fans tend to groan about, but with Raymond on the ice, they looked like top-six threats.
And then there’s the shot. Raymond has one of the best on the roster, and as he keeps getting more willing to use it, the rest of his season should be worth watching closely.
Through everything Detroit is dealing with, Raymond has given the Red Wings something they can count on: star-level play that keeps getting better.
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The part that makes this situation especially tense is how little movement there has been on either side. Larkin has held firm on the destinations he would accept, even as interest around the league has started to surface, with the Blues among the teams reportedly keeping tabs. Detroit appears ready to move on, but until the trade list changes or another team meets the price, the Red Wings are stuck in a standoff that shows no sign of easing. [Read more 🡒]