The Detroit Red Wings missed out on the Stanley Cup playoffs for the eighth season in a row. This time on the final day of the 2023-24 NHL season. There are two free agents, Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, that will require the most attention of general manager Steve Yzerman during the upcoming offseason. With that in mind, what will the rest of the Red Wings’ offseason look like? NHL free agents can sign new contracts with teams at noon on July 1.
Raymond 31 goals and added 41 assists for 72 points in 82 games played for the Red Wings during the 2023-24 season. The 31 goals were a career-high in the three seasons that Raymond has played in the NHL. Raymond playing well when Dylan Larkin was injured and Alex DeBrincat was in the middle of a cold scoring streak was one of the main reasons that the Red Wings were even able to make the playoffs.
Seider bounced back from a supposed “sophomore slump” under head coach Derek Lalonde. As of February 1st, according to Natural Stat Trick, at even strength Seider has a CorsiFor of 45.41 percent (Corsi is a plus-minus for shot attempts. For the first half of the 2023-24 season, opponents had 910 shot attempts while Seider was on the ice, while the Red Wings had 757. Seider did not play in the recent World Championships due to him becoming a free agent. This is understandable, given the amount of money he stands to earn.
Raymond showed well at the recent World Championships for Sweden, scoring. Czechia won the gold medal on home ice, defeating Switzerland by a score of 2-0. Raymond was frustrated that Sweden was playing in the bronze medal game, getting into a scuffle with former teammate Dominik Kubalik. Both players received unsportsmanlike penalties for the scuffle. In 10 games played for Sweden at the World Championships, Raymond scored four goals and added five assists.
Both Raymond and Seider have said that they want to remain in Detroit. Seider said that he would like to play with fellow defenseman Simon Edvinsson one day, saying that it would be “a pretty cool pair” on the Red Wings’ blueline. These two defensemen will be the top pair on the Red Wings’ defense corps for the time being. Having said this, the Red Wings’ defense has improved under head coach Derek Lalonde. The Red Wings gave up 32.4 shots per game during the 2023-24 NHL season, which was the sixth most in the league during this season.
The Red Wings will have the 15th pick in the first round of the upcoming NHL draft. The first round of the 2024 NHL draft will happen in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 28th. Detroit has many needs that it must fill to make it back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Lalonde and general manager Steve Yzerman are under pressure to make this a reality. The next piece of business that needs to happen is re-signing Raymond and Seider to build the cornerstones of a Stanley Cup-contending Red Wings team.
