Lucas Raymond’s Olympic surge comes at perfect time for Red Wings

The men's ice hockey tournament in the 2026 Winter Olympics is down to just four teams, and for Detroit Red Wings fans, just one player left. On Wednesday, Dylan Larkin and Team USA picked up a 2-1 win over Sweden in overtime. Larkin scored the first goal of the game after redirecting a shot from forward Jack Hughes. In overtime, defenseman Quinn Hughes scored the game-winner to clinch their spot in the semifinals and secured Team USA's first win over Sweden in the Olympics since 1960.

While everyone is basically gushing over Hughes' overtime winner, Sweden's game-tying goal is one Red Wings fans can't forget. Mika Zibanejad tied the game up at 1-1 with just over a minute remaining in regulation. The player who set him up for the goal was Detroit forward Lucas Raymond with an incredible cross-ice pass to Zibanejad, giving him an open space to put the puck past USA goalie Connor Hellebuyck to force overtime.

It was an incredible play by Raymond, who spent his entire Olympic run setting up plenty of Sweden's goals.

Lucas Raymond shines as playmaker during Sweden's Olympic run

Sweden may not have had the greatest of runs, giving the decision-making from the coaching staff, but Raymond was easily a top player not just on Sweden, but also in the entire tournament.

Raymond didn't factor in Sweden's 5-2 Olympics-opening win over Italy, but did secure an assist on Rasmus Dahlin's goal in their 4-1 loss to Finland. But then, Raymond took his play to another level.

In a 5-3 win over Slovakia, Raymond notched a goal in the third period to put Sweden up 5-2. Raymond also issued two assists, one on Adrian Kempe's 2-1 goal and on Elias Pettersson's 4-2 goal. In the qualifying round, Raymond dished out three assists on Gabriel Landeskog's, William Nylander's, and Zibanejad's goals in a 5-1 win over Latvia. But those three assist were all primary.

Finally, there was Raymond's primary assist to force overtime for Sweden on Thursday. Even though Sweden's run came to an end, we can't forget how well Raymond has played in international play. In five games, Raymond had nine points total. Additionally, in the team's wins over Slovakia and Latvia, Raymond became the first Swedish skater to record three points in consecutive games. Additionally, he passed Peter Forsberg for most assists recorded by a Swedish player in the Olympics. Forsberg had six during the 2006 Olympic run, in which Sweden won the gold medal.

Red Wings have to be ecstatic by what they've seen from Raymond. Now, they hope he can carry this momentum into the final stretch of the season for Detroit.

The Red Wings have 24 games remaining in the regular season and hold a 33-19-6 record for 72 points. That's good enough to be tied for second place in the Atlantic Division. But they are seven points ahead of the first team sitting outside of a Wild Card spot, the Columbus Blue Jackets (29-20-5, 65 points). The Red Wings can ill-afford to hit a slump, given that the Eastern Conference still has a crowded playoff picture. Raymond continuing at his Olympic level of play would certainly help the Red Wings pick up wins in hopes of making it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Red Wings have to feel great about the teams potential following the Olympic break, but they sure hope Raymond can continue to produce at the level he had in Italy.