Lalonde anticipates 'increased' leadership role for Raymond, Seider

Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde plans to count on franchise cornerstones Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider a little more next season.

"Those two, the role they'll play on our team, I think it will be a little increased role with our leadership, too," he said, according to the Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James. "That's something we talked about with those two over the summer."

For the past two seasons, Detroit primarily used three alternate captains on a rotating basis - Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot, and David Perron - to serve alongside captain Dylan Larkin. However, Perron signed with the Ottawa Senators as a free agent in July.

Before the Red Wings can consider reconfiguring their leadership group, Raymond and Seider need new contracts as restricted free agents.

However, Lalonde said he's "not worried" that both key players are still unsigned.

"I've talked with them two to three times during the summer, and we don't even talk about the contract," Lalonde said. "That's between (general manager Steve Yzerman) and them.

"With us, it's just the same message as with the other guys - we want to progress, we want to keep moving, keep building this. Obviously, those two guys are a big part of it."

Yzerman said in June that he'd get Seider and Raymond re-signed "in due time," according to NHL.com's Dave Hogg.

The Red Wings have around $17.65 million in cap space, per PuckPedia. Seider is projected to sign a six-year pact with a $7.687-million cap hit, and Raymond is predicted to ink a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $7.766 million, according to Evolving-Hockey.

Seider netted nine goals and 42 points in 82 games this past campaign while averaging a team-leading 22:22 of ice time per contest. He's hit the 40-point mark in each of his three NHL seasons and has yet to miss a game despite his hefty workload.

The 23-year-old defenseman won the Calder Trophy in 2022 as the league's top rookie. Detroit selected Seider with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.

Like Seider, Raymond is also entering his fourth NHL season. The 22-year-old winger totaled a career-high 31 goals and 72 points while appearing in all 82 outings in 2023-24. Raymond excelled late in the season when Detroit was in the playoff hunt, amassing 14 goals and 21 points in 22 matchups over the last two months of the season.

Detroit drafted the Swede with the fourth overall selection in 2020.

The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for the last eight years, though they came close this past season. Their 91 points on the campaign tied the Capitals, but Washington had five more regulation wins and ultimately claimed the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.