3 ways the Detroit Red Wings can model their rebuild around Tampa Bay
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Red Wings are also missing an elite defender.
When you look at the Lightning’s roster, they’ve got the scorers, but they also have an elite defenseman in Victor Hedman.
Hedman is a sensational player, and again, something the Detroit Red Wings don’t currently have, a ligament top defender.
There is plenty of hope Yzerman’s first draft pick after becoming GM, Mortiz Seider will grow into a Hedman-type player, but, of course, he’s currently not anywhere near that at the moment. That isn’t Seider’s fault, we need to be patient, but I am certainly anticipating his arrival next season. Seider has mentioned that he’s modeled his game after Hedman, and for the 6-foot-3 physical defender, there aren’t many better players to try and mirror.
Recently, Seider had been named the top defender this past season in the Swedish Elite League. He’d follow that up with being named the best defenseman in the 2021 Men’s World Championship. He’s defiantly on track to be a top defender in time, and let’s hope he stays on this same trajectory over the next few years.
In addition to Hedman, the Lightning lean on veteran Ryan McDonagh plus Mikhail Sergachev. That is an extraordinary group, and it also reminds me of Detroit Red Wings championship teams of the past.
There is only one Nicklas Lidstrom, but the Detroit Red Wings surrounded their prized horse with plenty of future Hall Of Famer’s as well. Whether it was Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Chris Chelios, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, and so on, Lidstrom always had a great supporting cast.
If Moritz Seider is the next number one defender, who will be Robin to his Batman? Filip Hronek? Maybe, but he’s not considered a plus-plus defender. Hronek is an outstanding player but more of an offensive-minded defenseman and is better served as a second-pairing defender.
Other names to keep tabs on within the organization are Albert Johansson, Gustav Lindstrom, Jared McIsaac, and Dennis Cholowski.
I do feel that Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings may need to find that number one or two left-handed defenseman to pair with Seider in free agency over the next couple of offseasons. It’s one position worth paying a premium for on the open market, especially if it’s an effective veteran with plenty of treads left on his tires to help groom a player like Seider.