"Obviously...We Need Him": Seider's Absence Felt on Day 1 of Red Wings Training Camp
The Red Wings address the elephant not in the room, discussing the conspicuous absence of Moritz Seider from the opening day of camp
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — On a day defined by what captain Dylan Larkin referred to as first day of school energy, there was one conspicuous absence as Detroit Red Wings camp began Thursday in Traverse City: stalwart defenseman Moritz Seider, who as of this writing is still engaged in negotiations with Detroit GM Steve Yzerman on the terms of his new contract. There is a nervous excitement to the start of any season with an ocean of opportunity awaiting, but for the Red Wings, it was impossible to fully even conceive of that coming season absent the enthusiasm and physicality of a certain young, hulking German defenseman.
Now three seasons into his NHL career, no malady has been able to keep Seider out of a game, and he's played all 82 each year, but now, as Detroit embarks on its most important season since Steve Yzerman returned as general manager, the ongoing negotiations have forced him off the ice, though not even that was enough to knock him to the periphery of the team.
"It is strange," Larkin acknowledged of Seider's absence. "That's his situation, but I know he wants to be here. It's between him, his agent, and Steve. The guys understand that but also we're here to get back to work and start building towards October 10th. Obviously, he's a huge part of our team and we need him...so it is strange not having him. We're all hoping that it can get done pretty soon." "I've talked to him," the captain added. "Obviously, he's one of my good, close friends, so we've talked."
Coach Derek Lalonde said of the situation, "We love Mo. We'll be ready to embrace Mo when he does arrive," referring to Seider's absence as "business as usual" in the context of RFA negotiations for high-end young players. Lalonde added that it was "not really a distraction" for the players who were on the ice on what he described as a successful day one, but of course, the need to even address the question suggests otherwise.
Elsewhere in his first press availability of the season, Larkin made his enthusiasm for the new year clear. "I can't tell you how many times I've thought of our last home game vs. Montreal and watched the video of Lucas [Raymond] scoring," he said, in reference to his eagerness to get back to playing in front of the Little Caesars Arena crowd. These Red Wings are excited to prove they can keep building on last year's near miss, but it's impossible to ignore that doing so, as Larkin said, requires Seider.
And that is how the Red Wings' 2024-25 campaign officially begins: with a sense of excitement to prove last season was more building block than fluke, but with that sense dampened by the one player not yet present. Of course, it will take just a few pen strokes on a contract to squash that nagging concern at Seider's absence, and there is still ample time to reach an agreement before that October 10 season opener Larkin alluded to, but until pen meets paper on Seider's new deal, there will be a dark cloud hanging over Detroit's season prospects.
Whether or not the so-called Yzer-plan is on a championship trajectory is a fair question for reasonable observers to debate, but what's undeniable is that whatever the Red Wings are building couldn't possibly amount to much without the young German leading the blue line.
At the end of the day, the reality of the Red Wings' and Seider's situation is as simple as Larkin's summation: "Obviously...we need him." However close the ongoing negotiations may or may not be, the feeling can't be wholly good in Hockeytown until number 53 is back on the ice.