With New Contract, Seider Faces Raised Expectations
Signing a big seven-year extension with the Detroit Red Wings last week, Moritz Seider faces raised expectations for his performance as a top defenseman
After a long offseason and contract negotiations that lasted into training camp, Moritz Seider went back to work Tuesday, skating in practice with the Detroit Red Wings.
This time, though, felt a little different. Long the Red Wings’ best defenseman, this time Seider was paid like it, too. His pockets were nearly $60 million heavier thanks to the seven-year contract he signed Thursday.
Now, with that payday come $60 million expectations.
“I think for a lot of other people, I think just expectations are different,” Seider said Tuesday after attending his first practice, a delay borne of his holdout. “I don't think I feel more pressure. I mean, I want to be good every single night. I think that shouldn't be a matter of how much you're making or not.”
Like it or not, Seider is going to be judged by that paycheck for its duration. That’s just a fact of life when the business side of sports gives such a warp to the perception of its play. And for Seider, that means a lot of eyes will be watching how he performs this season.
Anyone watching the Red Wings can see Seider's importance. He is one of just six players to record 200 hits and 200 blocks in a season, and the first since 2008. He played more minutes than any of his teammates. But anyone looking at the analytics can see his flaws. His 42.7% expected goals percentage isn't top-tier, even if it exists in the context that he faces a more difficult usage than anyone else in the league.
In the past three years, Seider has been given the grace appropriate for a young defenseman, one of the hardest positions to learn in the NHL and one where Seider took such an impressively difficult workload. Now that he's getting appropriately paid for what he does, don’t expect Seider's usage to change too much. All that's changing is the dollar sign.
“Where we are as a team, how valuable he is, how we can handle top lines,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said Monday, “part of our continued growth with points and wins over the last two years — why it's headed in the right direction — is because that part of the game and (him) being able to handle matchups. So I don't think that's going to change, I don't think as long as he's here with the Red Wings.”
So how do you judge a player in Seider’s situation? What does living up to his contract mean? Already, some analysts took issue with his contract as an overpayment based on his analytics, but context is still crucial to understanding his value. Detroit recognizes how much Seider improves its blue line in its worst moments, and it's paying him to keep doing its dirty work. Only now, the expectation is that he wins these unfavorable situations more often.
[More on Seider: How Does Seider's New Deal Compare to High-End Defense Market?]
At this point in his career, Seider is tasked with being good. Not good for a young defenseman. Not good for someone put in stressful situations. Just flat out good. The same goes for his forward counterpart, Lucas Raymond, in much the same way. These are hard expectations to meet, but they are also the reality of making more than $8 million a year in the NHL. To Seider, he has felt this sort of pressure before — specifically, when he was drafted sixth overall in a move that stunned so many analysts. His response was and is to view the challenge as a chip on his shoulder.
“There are a lot of people who thought that I was a reach at the time, and I had a chance proving them wrong,” Seider said. “And obviously there are other guys that think this contract is not right, so I'm ready to prove them wrong again. And I think that's kind of the motivation behind everything is just (that) I want to be proud of myself, and I definitely am right now. So other than that, I think I don't really care that much.”
All Seider cares about is being the best player he can be — for both team and individual success. And for Detroit, both of those levels of success come hand in hand. For a defenseman so important to the Red Wings’ blue line, any areas he improves will be felt exponentially. High on the list, the 23-year-old Seider wants to bring maturity into his game.
“I think now it's just about making the next step,” Seider said. “Being more consistent, trying to eliminate off nights as much as possible. Then obviously, I think trying to contribute on both ends even more. Hopefully the offense can come a little more, too. And just working on special teams I think will be a big part, trying to get both in the top 10.”
These areas of growth can help him lead the Red Wings’ defense to success, bringing team success along with his own. In addition to Seider’s own expectations, so too have expectations risen in Detroit with last season’s near-miss playoff push. Even with his contract negotiations, don’t think that Seider forgot about last season’s bitter end.
“I think that's fuel for this year. I think everybody is excited,” Seider said. “We all know the feeling, ending the season last year on a very big low.” He feels that using last season’s finish one point shy of the playoffs as motivation can keep the Red Wings going full tilt in January and February. “... Just take every game as if it's the most important game of your life,” Seider explained. “And I think if we can do that, I think we'll give ourselves a really good chance to up our level once again.”
Whether from his big payday or Detroit’s playoff hopes, expectations were raised all around Seider when he came to practice Tuesday. They have been for a long time. Now, it’s all about meeting them.