Lucas Raymond is on fire, and is the third Red Wings player to hit the 20-goal mark this season. Todd McLellan compared him to Red Wings great Henrik Zetterberg. Brad Galli has more.
Todd McLellan compares Lucas Raymond to Red Wings great Henrik Zetterberg
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 and $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 . No. 1 overall Alexis Lafrenière ranks fourth with 178).
