from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
Lucas Raymond ended his extraordinary rookie season with an assist and a celebration — and a need to decompress.
The 20-year-old was one of three Detroit Red Wings to last all 82 games, more than double what he was used to in his native Sweden. He played big minutes, too, earning a job on the top line out of training camp and never faltering.
Raymond has high standards for himself, and his desire to make even more of an impact in his second year led him to turn down an invitation to play at this month's World Championship in Finland.
"It was a very tough decision," Raymond said Wednesday. "You always want to play for your national team, especially in a tournament that big, but the decision came down to that I didn’t have much left in the tank and had to think about having a good summer. I want to have a really good summer this year to be prepared for next year, and I feel now I can get more time and I can prepare the way I want to."
from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,
Detroit Red Wings farm hand Riley Barber will play for USA at the upcoming World Championships in Finland.
Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is also on the squad. Former Detroit coach Jeff Blashill is an assistant to U.S. head coach David Quinn. The tournament will be May 13-29 in Tampere and Helsinki, Finland.
Pittsburgh native Barber scored 28 goals in 49 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins. He also played four games for the Red Wings this season. This was Barber’s second season with the Red Wings. He’s a proven American League scorer, but hasn’t been able to earn any lengthy promotions to the NHL. He previously had been with the Washington Capitals’ and Montreal Canadiens’ organizations. He played four games with the Capitals in 2016-17 and nine games with the Habs in 2019-20.
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