Red Wings: Moritz Seider turning heads in first AHL season

In June of 2019, Detroit Red Wings General Manager Steve Yzerman made his first draft pick as a member of the Red Wings front office. There was plenty of backlash after selecting German defenseman Moritz Seider with the sixth overall selection, which was shocking at the time.

There was an outcry against Steve Yzerman‘s selection of Moritz Seider at sixth overall for the Detroit Red Wings. Now, when he was selected, he was compared to someone like Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Since being drafted, Seider has gone on to turn some heads and emerge as the top defense prospect in the organization. As the first half of the season is coming to a close, take a look at how Seider’s 2019-20 season has been going with the Grand Rapids Griffins and his performance at the IIHF World Junior Championships with the German team.

This season, Seider has played in thirty-three games with the Griffins at the AHL level. Over that stretch, he has managed two goals and thirteen assists for fifteen total points.

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Seider is the second-highest scoring defenseman on the team behind Joe Hicketts, who has twenty-points over thirty-four games. Seider is a minus-eight rating on the season for the Griffins. He signed an entry-level contract before the start of the season that brought him over to the AHL from the DEL in Germany.

He may not be blazing the trail like Cale Makar with the Colorado Avalanche, but Seider has made strides to improve as he transfers his game from overseas. On top of his time with the AHL club, Seider was loaned to the German national team for the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championships. Seider was named captain of the German national team, where he displayed exemplary leadership.

Multiple teammates were interviewed, claiming that Seider was a great leader for the team throughout the tournament. Being only eighteen years old, the fact that he can be a mature team leader is an excellent addition to his growth. On top of leadership, he had six assists over seven games leading German defenseman.

Overall, looking at Seider, he has shown significant growth and maturity since this team last fall before the NHL Draft. As an eighteen-year-old, he will need to continue to show his maturity, especially being a physical defenseman who may deliver some big hits.

The way it stands, Seider is a serious candidate to be a future leader for this Red Wings team, not necessarily a captain, but someone like Niklas Kronwall, who is a valuable assistant captain. Initially, after the draft, this may have been a bold statement, but now not so much; Seider will see time with the Red Wings NHL roster during the 2020-21 season.

He may get his nine-game trial run in 2019-20, but next season, if his dominance continues and development stays on the course it is, he may be skating with the Red Wings more than most would think.