Among all the things that have gone right for the Detroit Red Wings since Christmas, on an individual level, Lucas Raymond’s performances are at the top.
The 22-year-old has 23 points spanning Dec. 27-Jan. 27, tied for second in the NHL with Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl (who the Wings will see Thursday) and Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov and one behind sublime Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak. That’s heady company, and if that’s not enough, coach Todd McLellan brought up former Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg when asked what has stood out about Raymond’s play since McLellan was named coach Dec. 26.
“He reminds me a little bit of Zetterberg,” McLellan said Tuesday. “You could open up a whole book of adjectives to describe Zetterberg – it’s pretty easy. And I could probably do that for Lucas right now. He’s a complete player. He plays all three zones, he plays them equally hard, he values each of the three as importantly as the individual stat sheet. I don’t want to say it’s hard to find players like that, but when you do, you treasure them.”
Just how much the Wings treasure Raymond was demonstrated last summer, when he was signed for eight years, $64.6 million. That contract materialized four years after general manager Steve Yzerman gritted his teeth and said little after the Wings were pushed back to pick fourth in the 2020 NHL draft lottery, despite finishing at the bottom of the standings. (Raymond ranks second in scoring in the 2020 draft class, with 230 points to No. 3 pick Tim Stützle’s 295 points. No. 1 overall Alexis Lafrenière ranks fourth with 178).
Raymond has reinforced Yzerman’s decision since entering the league in 2021, but Raymond really came into his own near the end of last season, when he crammed 11 points into the final six games as the Wings desperately chased a playoff spot. This season, he was near a point-per-game player at Christmas, with 33 points in 34 games, but since McLellan came in, Raymond has improved his overall average to 1.12 points.
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“I feel better and better for every year, and that I have a lot more in me,” Raymond said. “You put in a lot of work and you’re not always going to get results, but just keep doing the right things and it will pay off. I like where my game is at and am trying to keep going forward with it.”
Raymond had a four-point outing Monday against the Los Angeles Kings, on a night the Wings were without Patrick Kane (upper body), J.T. Compher (upper body) and Vladimir Tarasenko (unwell). The latter two didn’t practice Tuesday, while Kane skated on his own. The Wings are scheduled to depart Wednesday for a four-game trip, and unless something changes, the plan is to bring Dominik Shine, who made his NHL debut against the Kings.
“We haven’t seen Vladdy for two days so I don’t know what energy level he has,” McLellan said. “But the plan is to have Dominik there. His first game – that wasn’t the path back down to Grand Rapids, that’s for sure. He had a real good night.”
