Despair oozes from every corner of the Detroit Red Wings organization. From the front office to the dressing room, it’s a nightmare without an end in sight. Although many fans observed the “Dead Things” era, it seemingly pales in comparison to horrendous situation Detroit finds itself in now.
With uncertainty swirling more than a tilt-a-whirl, the Red Wings have one thing going for them—at least in terms of positive consistency.
From an audible gasp pick at sixth overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft to top defender in Hockeytown, Moritz Seider has blazed a trail. With hits and play reminiscent of Vladimir Konstantinov, Seider skyrocketed up the list of favorite current Wings players.
Adversity is nothing new for Moritz Seider
Stepping out of the shadows can be a challenge for anyone.
At just 25 years of age, Seider is still getting established both in the NHL and life itself. As he matures his confidence and discipline seem to reflect his growth.
No longer the jaw-dropping reach at sixth overall, the entire league is on notice. Young players now cite Seider as someone they model their game after. It’s crazy how quickly time moves.
Yet, Seider is still learning to take the reins of his Detroit Red Wings.
It is a team. There are players like Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat offering additional voices in leadership. Even guys like Andrew Copp and Ben Chiarot can impart their wisdom upon the team. Seemingly, it’s how Seider want his team to run.
Leading up to his first game as the guy in Detroit, Seider has spoken to the media at least three times. Rather than sounding annoyed or exhausted at the seemingly endless questions (questions that are right to ask, as fans and media have no answers from the general manager or ownership), Seider is as patient as ever. Maybe a bit less goofy, but with all the respect in the world for each reporter and question, regardless of how many times he’s repeated himself.
He could hide in the corner. He could provide vague dialogue or inconsequential answers, but Seider is as thorough as any Red Wings player in recent years when he speaks with the media.
In his most recent availability from Wednesday, September 30, Seider shares his thoughts on many things. Here’s a highlight, in response to Ansar Khan of MLive who essentially asked how players can drown out the noise come game time, Seider had as mature and upbeat of a response as he always has:
“I mean it’s pretty easy, just honestly. The second the puck drops, you forget about everything that’s going on around you. You’re in the moment, you’re with your teammates, playing the best game out there that you enjoy the most. So, I think, you forget about anything that is happening around you and you just enjoy the moment.
We have a lot of young guys we’re trying to help out and I feel like that is where we should put the focus rather than worrying about what other people think of us.”
Another reporter asked a follow up question regarding outside expectations of his Red Wings’ team, Seider continues: “We’re just very worried about our own locker room and we don’t really care about what other people think. If we see something, I think we just use it as motivation. I’ve said it plenty of times. It’s a great feeling proving people wrong and I think we have a great chance in this locker room to do so.
Still, we have a really good d-core even though Simon’s out, we have Anton’s [Johansson] coming up, picked up [Andreas] Englund and I think we are very solid throughout the d core. Even at the top, the system will help us. We just gotta really be a really good defensive playing team. Then, we gotta strike on our offense and then we gotta capitalize on our chances. We have a great home stretch in front of us. Think we can capitalize on a lot of points here early.”
It’s a refreshing take on the young kids coming into the lineup. Under the previous leadership, there were questions about picks and young guys coming up and nobody sounded quite as happy or excited as Seider. Certainly, they never went out of their way to say they are focusing on supporting the young guys.
Granted, Dylan Larkin did host Michael Rasmussen and Evgeny Svechnikov when they first arrived in the NHL, which is great. However, toward the end of his tenure as captain, there wasn’t a pleasant tone or mention of young guys from Larkin.
The rest is just unwritten
It’s a bitter taste to have friends traded, but at the end of the day this is a business. If a player doesn’t fit a certain timeline, or if a team is willing to overpay for a guy like Filip Hronek, then it’s almost impossible to say no. (No matter how we salivate at the thought of having Seider with Hronek as a one-two-punch on the right-side defense.)
Seider has emphasized that he and his team have pens in their hand. Much like Natasha Bedingfield, their ending is unplanned, as well.
Quite frankly, Seider seems the most confident about this season. More confident than fans (rightfully so), coaching staff (rightfully so) and outside voices (who cares about those anyways). Maybe it’s because he’s used to that moniker.
Just as Seider continues to answer the bell for Team Germany in games where Germany is expected to lose more often than it’s expected to win, Seider seems equally prepared to start this Red Wings season.
His unwavering positive attitude is infectious. The undeniable, upbeat tone is quintessential Seider.
As he says in the aforementioned media availability, Seider loves proving people wrong (and he’s very good at doing so). Something that has always stuck with me, though, is that when there are people to prove wrong there are always people that can be proven right, too.
Here’s to hoping Seider and his Detroit Red Wings can prove the naysayers wrong, and the few who still believe right.
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