Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press takes a look at the Wings at Christmas,

Zadina’s situation

While Raymond and Seider are performing like the bluechip former first-round picks they were (Raymond, No. 4 overall in 2020; Seider, No. 6 in 2019), Zadina is not. There was a great deal of excitement in the organization when he fell to the Wings at No. 6 in 2018 after being projected to go as high as No. 3, but Zadina has struggled to establish himself on offense. He put seven shots on net over back-to-back games Dec. 10-14, but for all that, he has four goals and six assists in 30 games. That’s the same number of goals as veteran Sam Gagner, who averages a minute less of ice time and who isn’t a mainstay on the power play. The Wings are hoping Zadina, 22, just needs more time to figure out how to increase his effectiveness.

Wondering about Veleno

Veleno, another former first-round pick (No. 30, 2018) was a healthy scratch Dec. 14 but when Fabbri and Rasmussen landed in pandemic protocol, Veleno drew back in the next game. Veleno had a fun story to tell when he was called up Oct. 30 and ended up carpooling to Toronto with Yzerman at the wheel. Veleno has played on the second, third and fourth lines. He has scored three times in 15 games and might benefit from some steady time in an offensive role.

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