from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

The Blues made it 1-0 in the first period on a power play goal from Pavel Buchnevic and tied things up early in the third period when David Perron angled the puck on net from the goal line. Adam Erne then used Pius Suter as a screen to score three minutes later.

With his goal in the first period, the 19-year-old Raymond became the second teenager in franchise history to collect his first 20 career points in 21 games or fewer, joining the man who drafted him: Steve Yzerman. He did it in 17 games in 1983-84. Raymond has six points the last six games.

“I was happy to see his game,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought as the road trip went along he was starting to lose a little steam, so I was curious to see where he was at. I thought he came and had good energy. He’s smart, he’s hard and he’s competitive. Those are great qualities to have and that’s allowed him to have success.”

The Wings weren’t sure Raymond, the No. 4 pick in 2020, would make the team his first year in North America, but he looked at home from the first day of camp. The Swedish Hockey League, where he played last season, doesn’t have nearly as grueling a schedule as the NHL, but Raymond has been a quick study.

“You just have to be really cautious about what you do,” he said. “You have to get the right sleep, especially, and eat good, and just stay focused. Just try to keep your schedule, that’s the main part. But with a lot of games and the road trip, you really have to think about what you eat and getting to bed.”

more

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 11/25/21 at 03:24 AM ET

from Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now,

Detroit Red Wings draft pick Carter Mazur has wasted little time adjusting to NCAA hockey. The Denver Pioneers left-winger has scored seven goals in 12 games. That gives Mazur a share of the NCHC freshmen lead in goals with his Denver teammate Massimo Rizzo.

Netting his seven goals on 37 shots, Mazur is showing a 18.9% shooting percentage. With 7-3-10 totals, he’s averaging 0.833 points per game….

The status of Red Wings forward Joe Veleno is still uncertain. Veleno left Wednesday’s 2-1 win over the St Louis Blues with an upper-body injury.

If it’s determined that Veleno is going to miss significant time, in all likelihood the Red Wings will need to recall a forward from AHL Grand Rapids. And no forward in GR is currently holding a hotter hand than Jonatan Berggren.

more on Mazur…

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 11/25/21 at 08:18 AM ET

Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic answers some fan mail,

Regarding Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider’s strong starts in Detroit; are there comparables to having 2 players on the same team that will both most likely take top 2 of the top 5 slots in Calder? — Kyle A.

Actually, there are a number of parallels to the situation you outline, and a lot depends on how far back in time you want to go. In the NHL’s Original Six era, Dave Keon won the 1961 Calder Trophy ahead of his Maple Leafs teammate Bob Nevin. In 1950, two Bruins (Jack Gelineau and Phil Maloney) ran one-two; the year before, in 1949, it was a pair of Rangers (Pentti Lund and Allan Stanley) who managed the trick. In the modern era, as reader Andy B. pointed out, the best example came in the 2002 Calder race, when Thrashers teammates Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk finished one-two ahead of third-place finisher Kristian Huselius of the Panthers.

Others came close to duplicating that feat:

In 2007, the Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin won the Calder, with teammate Jordan Staal finishing No. 3. (Paul Stastny, then with Colorado, was second).
In 2008, the Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews finished first and third, with the Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom sandwiched in between.
In 2013-14, when Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon won the award, a pair of Tampa Bay Lightning forwards, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson, finished second and third.
In 2016-17, the year Auston Matthews won, the Leafs placed three in the top six: Mitch Marner was No. 5 and William Nylander No. 6.

So, there is a lot of precedent to think that if Raymond and Seider can keep up their early-season performances, the voters would have no issue rewarding them both. I’m assuming your concern is they might split the vote. History shows that while that can often happen in the Hart Trophy race, it’s less likely to occur in Calder voting.

more topics (paid)

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 11/25/21 at 10:07 AM ET

Having really watched him this month and in the game last night, it really cemented my view on Leddy, he’s just awful defensively.  And without Staal and now DDK,  Blash has to play him in less protected situations, actually true defensive roles, and he’s just gets exposed.  It really in bleeds into Hronek too, and that pair most often plays with Suter at center who, while good at both ends, is not a plus defensive center, and neither are Fabri or Zadina for that matter.

When Leddy has the puck with his head up, he skates and moves the puck very well, he’s a plus player, but when defending without the puck, and especially coverage, he simply loses his lanes and free players in front of our net too often, he’s a puck watcher, gets turned around too much and that’s kept many a player out of the NHL. If you watch highlights of both opposition goals and our goalies big saves, #2 is often around the scene.

Assuming we’re a seller, I don’t see a playoff team giving up much for him unless they really need point help on the PP.

Posted by MurrayChadwick from Window Seat on the Captain's Ship on 11/25/21 at 10:36 AM ET

Typically when poor teams in various sports start digging their way to competitiveness they do it with stingy defense and a great home record.  Wings are pretty leaky and owe that win to Ned.  Steve’s picks are looking productive so far at NHL level which is hardly a guarantee in the NHL draft.

Posted by RWBill on 11/25/21 at 02:45 PM ET

And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Posted by RWBill on 11/25/21 at 02:45 PM ET