The Detroit Red Wings open the season without their captain, and that makes Lucas Raymond the most important player on the roster. Dylan Larkin will miss the first two games with an upper-body injury he suffered in an off-ice workout, and he asked Detroit for a trade this offseason, a request that cost him the captaincy.
Raymond is locked in for the next six seasons. His eight-year, $64.6 million extension runs through 2031-32, and the 24-year-old is the forward Detroit can build around right now. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, and with Larkin out of the lineup, the job is his.
Lucas Raymond Has to Be the Best Player on the Red Wings
Raymond doesn’t have a choice but to be the top player in Detroit. In 80 games last season he scored 25 goals and recorded 51 assists, with a plus-1 rating. He is going to have to be a player who scores 30 or more goals and adds 50 or more assists.
He has had two straight seasons of 50 or more assists. His career high in goals was 31 in 2023-24, and his career high in assists was 53 during the 2024-25 season. If the Red Wings are going to make it back to the playoffs, the first line has to be great.
Raymond will skate on the first line with Andrew Copp and Alex DeBrincat. He cannot afford to underachieve this season. Is he ready to take the next step and put up a 90- to 100-point season? That is what Detroit needs from him.
Todd McLellan Wants Raymond Shooting More
Todd McLellan challenged Raymond at training camp to shoot first rather than look to pass first. “He’s got a tremendous shot,” McLellan said, mentioned in a Detroit Red Wings media availability video, and he would rather Raymond use it than defer to anyone else on the roster except DeBrincat. McLellan made that point more than once in camp. The only forward in the lineup who is a better pure goal scorer than Raymond is DeBrincat, and if Raymond becomes a shoot-first forward, the Red Wings should benefit.
