Detroit Red Wings: Top 2 prospects ranked incorrectly in top 50 edition

The Detroit Red Wings top two prospects Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, recently ranked in the top eleven among all NHL prospects.

In a recent article published by The Athletic (subscription), both Raymond and Seider were highly praised by author Scott Wheeler, but I feel like he’s mixed up their ranking.

Regarding The Athletic, we will not reveal the rest of their list due to it being a subscription-based service but only mention where these top two Red Wings prospects landed.

Wheeler has Raymond ranked as the no. 9 prospect in all of hockey, but Seider coming in at eleven.  I don’t feel that anyone should be up in arms about the rankings, knowing that plenty of the prospects had just been selected in the 2021 NHL Entry Level Draft.

I may be biased, but I feel that Seider should be considered the top defensive prospect in the NHL after his showing in the Swedish Elite League (SHL) this past season.  Newsflash, in this list, Seider is not ranked this way; he’s considered the third-best defensive prospect.

Moritz Seider should be considered as the Detroit Red Wings’ top overall prospect, with Raymond coming in at a close second.

Seider spent the 2020-21 season playing in Sweden, where he recorded 28 points in 41 games skating his way to winning the SHL’s top defenseman award for his outstanding season with Rögle BK.

Rögle’s head coach, Cam Abbott, had this to say about Seider, who emerged as one of the clubs top players;

"“Seider is just unbelievable. He’s got a great balance between being serious in his approach, fully mature beyond his age — I mean it’s crazy — but not like a robot either. Personable, funny, cracking jokes, balancing between being loose and goofy and also dialing it in. He is the real deal. And he’s humble, which is so important too. His teammates are just drawn to him. And he’s smart. When you get into the everyday with a guy as a coach, you see the full portfolio of all of his decisions and it’s just ‘wow.’ He’s solid. And that’s so much easier to recognize if he wows you offensively, but when you have to appreciate the everything because you’re coaching him and that all counts, he’s even better.”"

Seider seems ready to rock on day one of the 2021-22 regular season, with the Detroit Red Wings having excelled playing in the SHL.  Playing in a league like the SHL is very different from making the leap from junior hockey to the NHL; ask Michael Rasmussen, who tore up junior before struggling in his first professional season.

Detroit’s top prospect on the backend should be poised to make an immediate impact next season with the Red Wings.

The Detroit Red Wings selected Raymond with the no. 4 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft.  Raymond also spent last season playing in the Swedish Elite League.  Raymond played his second straight season with Frölunda HC, where he recorded six goals and 12 assists for 18 total points in 34 contests.

The year prior, Raymond scored four goals and totaled 10 points in 33 games. So the 19-year old playmaking winger is making progress.

At this point, Raymond does not project to be the elite scoring threat the Detroit Red Wings desperately require, but perhaps an ultra-talented playmaker.

Raymond will have a role within Detroit’s top six in the years to come but expect head coach Jeff Blashill to ease the top forward prospect in on the third line, similar to Filip Zadina when he’s ready to make his debut.

If you were wondering, Detroit’s no. 6 pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Level Draft, Simon Edvinsson ranked no. 24 and forward Jonatan Berggren rounded out the Red Wings on the list coming in at no. 48.