It’s the time of year where people all over the United States take stock of the things they are thankful for. Family, friends, safety, and good food are just a few things that families across the country will give thanks for this week.
The teams across the NHL, specifically the Detroit Red Wings, are no different. Fans across “Hockeytown” were no doubt thankful for a legitimate playoff push last season, but what about the team itself? What should the Red Wings be thankful for?
Truthfully, there are many things they should be thankful for, but here are just a few:
Kris Draper & the Scouting Team
A lot of people have been sharing their opinions of the Red Wings’ pro scouting team on social media and elsewhere this season, and those opinions are usually…umm…not very positive. On the other hand, the organization’s amateur scouts are receiving all sorts of flowers right now – and for good reason.
After already finding Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, two foundational players that were rewarded with big-money contracts back in September, the Red Wings’ amateur scouting team, led by Kris Draper, seem to have struck gold again. This is because of the emergence of defenseman Simon Edvinsson and forward Marco Kasper.
Both former first round, top-10 picks, Edvinsson and Kasper have quickly proved that they have the goods to be solid pros for the foreseeable future. Edvinsson has fit in next to Seider on the Red Wings’ top pairing, averaging almost 21 minutes of ice-time a night. His presence has allowed Ben Chiarot, Seider’s former partner, to slide down the lineup and into a more suitable spot for his talents. Edvinsson’s two-way ability has been especially noticeable as he has looked just as comfortable protecting a lead as he has while pressing for a goal.
Kasper officially joined the team after the season started, but his impact was felt almost immediately. He began the season centering the fourth line but has since worked his way up to the second line thanks to his high compete level and his ability to create space with his stick and feet. While the points haven’t come pouring in yet, he is doing the things that lead to points – plus skating on the same line as Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat should lead to some production.
If the Red Wings’ rebuild is going to be successful, they need to continue to produce young talent that can make an impact for years to come. Edvinsson and Kasper’s arrival are proof that things are churning along as planned, and it’s thanks to Draper and his scouting team for being able to identify pro-level talent despite drafting almost exclusively outside of the top-five.
Lucas Raymond
Most fans across “Hockeytown” experience a flash of PTSD whenever the 2019-20 season is mentioned. The Red Wings were, by far, the worst team in the NHL that season as blowout losses were standard practice back then. To add insult to injury, Detroit wasn’t even able to secure the ultimate benefit of a season that bad: the first pick in the NHL Draft. Instead, they fell three spots and found themselves with the fourth overall selection. With that pick, they picked a Swedish winger by the name of Raymond, and they have never looked back.
Since joining the Red Wings on a full-time basis in the 2021-22 season, Raymond has progressively gotten better and better. He was the Red Wings’ leader in points last season with 72 in 82 games, and he seems to have picked up where he left off as he leads the team in points this season. He signed an 8-year pact with the Red Wings in the offseason and is already recognized as one of, if not the best forward on this team.
Related: How the Red Wings Can Turn Their 2024-25 Season Around
At 22 years of age, Raymond has not only emerged as a high-end point producer, he has also emerged as a leader for his team. After wearing an ‘A’ for Team Sweden at the World Championships earlier this season, he has had an ‘A’ stitched to his Red Wings sweater on a few occasions this season. On a team filled with veterans with varying levels of success, he has proven himself as a player his team can count on when the chips are down; he has already scored a few clutch goals this season after scoring several clutch goals down the stretch last season.
When the Red Wings fell to fourth overall, the entire hockey community let out a sympathetic groan – that team was so bad that everyone knew they needed all the help they could get. Fast forward to today, and you can make a strong argument that the Red Wings were able to draft the second-best player in the 2020 draft class despite their misfortune. If that isn’t a reason to be thankful, then what is?
Cam Talbot & Alex Lyon
A key feature of the Red Wings since the end of the 2010s is a lack of reliable goaltending. They have relied almost exclusively on goalie tandems in the 2020s, but their tandems have often not worked out the way the team has planned. Thomas Greiss, Alex Nedeljkovic and Ville Husso have all come and gone with the hope that they could be serviceable members of a 1A/1B tandem, but it failed to work out.
This season, the Red Wings’ tandem features Alex Lyon, returning from last season, as well as Cam Talbot. Talbot, a 37-year-old veteran, has quickly announced himself as not only a viable member of a tandem, but Detroit’s top option in goal. With Lyon performing fairly well himself, the Red Wings finally have goaltending tandem that functions as a legitimate tandem.
Though it is still very early on in the season, Talbot’s .921 save-percentage (SV%) would be the highest of his career since the 2014-15 season, and the highest of any Red Wings starting goaltender since Petr Mrázek had a .921 SV% in 54 games during the 2015-16 season. When you haven’t had goaltending at this level in almost a decade, that is definitely something to be thankful for.
Now it’s your turn. Let us know what the Red Wings should be thankful for down in the comments section down below!
