Raymond's Offense Assuaging Doubts over Red Wings' Trajectory

As Lucas Raymond continues to blossom into a star, the idea that the "Yzer-plan" wants for high-end offensive talent loses its luster

In Monday night's win over the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond scored four points, bringing his season total to 56 in 50 games.  That output included his 20th goal of the season, one that revitalized his team after conceding a disastrous own goal.  As Raymond continues to blossom as a star in the NHL, he strikes a major blow to one of the leading theories about the ceiling on Detroit's rebuild.

By joining Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat (who each have 21 goals for the season) at the 20-goal plateau, Raymond ensured that the Red Wings have three or more 20 plus goal scorers 50 games into a season for the first time since 1995-96, when Slava Kozlov, Steve Yzerman, and Sergei Fedorov accomplished that feat.

Raymond also became the fourth Swede in NHL history to score 20+ goals three different times before the age of 23, joining Mats Sundin (who did it four times), Filip Forsberg, and Gabriel Landeskog.

Both of those are to varying degrees cherry-picked stats, but they nonetheless reflect the sort of offensive company Raymond is keeping as he rounds into his prime form.  He's on pace for over 90 points this season, a total that would comfortably make him strong value on the just over $8 million AAV contract he signed last summer.  And, while Raymond may never be an Art Ross candidate, he helps the Red Wings beyond just the scoresheet with his assertiveness in hunting pucks and willingness to absorb body contact and get to the dirty areas to make plays.

When you put all that together, the idea that Detroit's present rebuild wants for high-end offensive talent does not quite hold up to scrutiny.  I spoke further to this dynamic in the featured video above.

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