from Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket,

He's logging veteran minutes as he lopes toward Rookie of the Year, and this is just the start for Moritz Seider. This is just the regular season. We've yet to see him in the playoffs, where the ice tightens and stars tend to shine. Seider both shrinks the ice and opens it with his 6'4 frame and has stared down stars all season long.

Remember opening night? In his NHL debut against the defending champs? Seider needled Victor Hedman, of all people, by taking the puck off his stick after a whistle, then went nose to nose with the former Norris winner and his partner Mikhail Sergachev when they objected. It hardly changed the game, but it did tell us something about Seider's psyche.

Remember that night in Pittsburgh? Seider took a fist to the chin from Sidney Crosby after a scramble in the crease, threw a bigger one back, then threw aside Bryan Rust without ever taking his eyes off the two-time MVP as he drove him into the boards. Remember the very next night in Detroit? Seider went blow for blow in another scrum with Auston Matthews, standing taller and smiling wider each time the Rocket Richard winner swung back.

These are the matchups Seider seems to relish, matchups that will only loom larger when the Wings return to the playoffs. When they get the taste of an old playoff rival Wednesday night at LCA, you can bet Seider will be out there anytime Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen take the ice for the Avs.

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