Lucas Raymond’s transition to the North American style of hockey – a more physical game on smaller ice – has been smooth through two games of the NHL Prospects Tournament.
Raymond leads the Detroit Red Wings with three goals, displaying some of the skills and hockey sense that made him the fourth overall selection in 2020.
But it’s the 19-year-old right wing’s competitiveness and play without the puck that has impressed Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon, who is coaching the prospects team.
“He’s competing, he’s working hard,” Simon said following Saturday’s 5-2 loss to St. Louis at Centre I.C.E. Arena in Traverse City. “I think (his scoring) is the result of his play away from the puck and his willingness to get to the hard-to-score areas. He’s been good on the power play with his patience and composure. We’ve used him on the PK.
“When things got a little bit rough and chippy, he got frustrated initially in the first period, but he kept his work boots on and really continued to fight through. I thought he showed a little bit of resilience in that regard and was extremely happy with the way he competed.”
The Red Wings wrap up the tournament tonight against Columbus (6 p.m., live streamed on DetroitRedWings.com) before the start of the main camp on Thursday. That’s when Raymond’s push for a roster spot begins in earnest.
Raymond, however, was scratched from the lineup Sunday for precautionary reasons, as was linemate Jonatan Berggren.
“He’s a hell of a player. He’s got tremendous skill. He competes really hard,” Joe Veleno, Raymond’s center, said. “He’s good a good knack for the game, good hockey sense. He’s easy to talk to, build chemistry with.”
Responding to chippy play
The Red Wings anticipated a physical game Saturday, and that’s what they got. Berggren, on the top line with Veleno and Raymond, suffered an apparent left arm injury when checked behind the Blues net midway through the first period. Simon had no immediate update on his condition.
“That’s kind of the makeup of the team they brought here,” Simon said. “They have some experienced, older guys, bigger bodies. I thought our guys, when things got a little bit rough and scrappy, continued to compete get their noses dirty.”
That certainly was the case with 19-year-old defenseman Donovan Sebrango, who fought Brayden Guy in the first period.
“I don’t go into the game thinking about fighting. I just play my game,” Sebrango said. “I definitely don’t shy away from it. They were playing physical, and I just wanted to set a tone, let them know we weren’t backing down from them.”
Said Veleno: “I didn’t know he could fight that well. I’ve seen him off the ice, he’s got some good size. He’s definitely a hard-nosed defenseman. He impressed me with that fight today.”
Tough night for Cossa
Sebastian Cossa, the 15th overall pick in this year’s draft, allowed five goals on 30 shots in his lone appearance of the tournament.
“He hadn’t played in a while, so I think he was a little nervous at the start,” Simon said. “Three power play goals (against), would like to have a couple of those back, but those are more structural.
“You’re going to have bad bounces, but I think he settled in nicely. That shows a little bit of mental fortitude on his part, a little bit of resilience. It was good for him to have experience of playing in this tournament when things are a little bit chaotic at times because of a lack of structure because teams haven’t been together for so long. But he was fine tonight.”
Jared Bednar, a fourth-round pick in 2020 (107th) will start tonight for the Red Wings.
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September 20, 2021 at 01:04AM
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