Detroit Red Wings as MCU characters: Lucas Raymond & Moritz Seider

Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider have gone on this fascinating,  whimsical, and (at times) depressing journey, so it seemed only fitting to discuss their Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) characters simultaneously. Also, it is difficult to talk about one of these MCU characters without discussing the other 

It’s been a joy watching both guys develop and impact the team as some of the brightest spots I’ve seen in my tenure as a Detroit Red Wings fan. 

Raymond brings this charm with undeniable fire to the team. In the darkest of times, he creates flickers of light for everyone to appreciate. 

Seider, on the other hand, brings a sense of ingenuity, loyalty, and brilliance to a team that’s starved for any semblance of consistency.

For fun, I have chosen their MCU characters like I have already for Jonatan Berggren. 

If Raymond and Seider were Marvel Cinematic Universe characters, here’s who they’d be

**Spoiler Alert** For anyone who hasn’t seen the MCU movies, there will be spoilers

While Berggren’s was the second easiest choice, Raymond’s was by far the easiest. I’m not sure why.

Ever since I saw Raymond, he’s reminded me of baby Groot. 

I’m sure this isn’t the best honor for a young man who just inked his $64 million deal, but to me it’s everything.

There was a previous version of Groot in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, but in the case of Raymond, I will only reference baby Groot. (For what it’s worth, baby Groot is all grown up and is extremely buff.)

There were a few scenes in the Guardians of the Galaxy series that stuck out to me with baby Groot.

Baby Groot was kidnapped and tortured by a group of unsavory characters. They used baby Groot, however, they wished, leaving him battered, dripping alcohol (that was poured all over him), and exhausted. 

As he’s moping around, he comes across Rocket, the raccoon, and Yondu, the blue guy. who asks for help escaping his confinement. When baby Groot is “helping” Rocket and Yondu who are locked behind bars. Yondu keeps asking for baby Groot to bring the new fin thing that he wears on his head. When he wears the fin on his head, he can whistle, sending a little arrow-like thing flying. Instead of using a gun or knife, this is Yondu’s weapon of choice.

However, baby Groot has difficulty understanding exactly what is being asked of him, so he brings random items that he thinks fulfill Yondu’s ask. Additionally, there is an explanation as to why baby Groot doesn’t like anyone wearing hats.

Much like baby Groot, Raymond gets tossed around and treated however the opposition feels. At times, it seems like his teammates are like Rocket, trapped behind bars, and don’t really know what’s going on with baby Groot (or in this case Raymond). In the meantime, Raymond is being slashed, hacked, whacked, and crushed as anyone sees fit. Referees just stand around and watch their entertainment unfold. 

Raymond isn’t happy with his treatment but carries on playing in the best ways that he can. 

Similarly to baby Groot, Raymond attempts to understand what is being asked of him by his coaching staff and teammates. 

There is plenty of effort, however, there are moments when he seems as perplexed by the coaching staff’s requests as baby Groot is with his selection of “fins” that he finds when attempting to locate Yondu’s actual fin.

Raymond is also just as cute to me as baby Groot, so that’s another reason I link the two together.

Another scene that ties them together is in Avengers: Infinity Wars where baby Groot, Rocket, and Thor are attempting to make a new weapon for Thor. In the process of making the new hammer, the God of Thunder is at death’s door. After he is asked to help locate the new weapon’s handle, which can help save Thor’s life, baby (in this case teen) Groot realizes he can create his own handle. He extends his arm, wrapping it around the two sides of the new weapon and cutting off his arm to forge the new handle for Thor’s ax. 

In doing so, electricity begins surging around the ax as Thor’s hand opens:

To me, there were many times in Raymond’s young career he seemed to have renewed life into a dying Detroit Red Wings season. 

The 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings was among the worst teams ever iced in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL). My willpower to continue watching the Detroit Red Wings was close to where Thor was, on death’s door, but Raymond renewed my hope. A player destined for first overall fell because the team who picked before Detroit in the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft either had different priorities or weren’t sure of Raymond (as many teams couldn’t even watch Raymond play live as his Swedish Hockey League (SHL) team used him minimally in his draft year).

A talent like Raymond’s should have been long gone, but I’m glad he fell as the Detroit Red Wings desperately needed Raymond.

In just his third season with the team, Raymond almost dragged the team into its first playoff appearance since 2015-16. All while his safety net (captain Dylan Larkin) was in and out of the lineup battling on and off-ice situations, Raymond exceeded every expectation I had for him last season.

In his tenure, I haven’t doubted his commitment to his team, fans, or the city of Detroit. He wants it, and he will do just about anything to get the team to where it should be, where it needs to go. Metaphorically speaking, cutting off his arm if it gets the team closer to the end goal. 

There are times when both teen Groot and Raymond get a bit spicy. Whether it’s scuffling with Ben Chiarot in practice or sprinkling some ‘tude in his words, teen Groot and Raymond can be a bit much at times.

Many times I’ve watched Raymond and thought, “Wow, he’s got some acorns on him.”

The best example that I can give is Raymond’s infamous appearance on the MoJoe show:

Raymond argues about who should open the show and even goes on to curse on a “family” show when bantering with Seider.

After saving the galaxy several times, Groot is all grown up and more buff than ever. 

For Seider, his was an easy choice as well. 

Much like his MCU character, I think Seider is underrated, misjudged, and incredibly gifted. 

In a league that tries to discredit his work, undervalue his performance, and reduce his accomplishments to nothing, Seider is still trying to find out his worth to himself and his teammates. 

Although he’s a confident young man, there are times when it seems the outside world chips away at his poised demeanor. 

He gets humbled far more often than he should given the fact that he has been asked to do too much at such a young age for a team that provides little help or support to him on the ice.

As he learns who he is and what his style of play is, Seider is following a similar path to Rocket Racoon, in my opinion.

Although Seider seems more at peace with himself and who he is than Rocket, they share a lot of many similarities.

The initial connection my brain made between the two is after watching Seider and how quickly he learns things.

It’s almost like watching a supercomputer in real time. 

For example, the Patrik Laine interaction. Seider goes from “being welcomed to the NHL” to making a simple, effective, smart play to prevent the same play from happening. These plays came within a couple of weeks of each other. To see a player recognize a flaw in their game, adjust their game, and implement the change effectively in such a short amount of time is astounding.

Rocket has always shown MCU fans that he possesses a brilliant mind. 

In the first Guardians of the Galaxy, he comes up with a fantastic scheme to breakout of space jail: 

Down the road, we learn just how smart Rocket is when we glimpse Rocket’s upbringing in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. He finds a flaw that Rocket’s creator, the High Evolutionary, couldn’t identify, to help in creating peaceful creatures (sorry for the not-so-great quality, I searched for a better version of this clip, but couldn’t find it):

Seider displays his intelligence on a nightly basis and each time, I gain even more appreciation for Seider than I had before.

Both Seider and Rocket are entertaining. Even with a mundane task, they seem to find ways to keep themselves and their audience entertained. Whether it’s bouncing a puck up in the air or Ravengers, they seem to find the silver lining whenever possible:

Seider, like Rocket, will be a leader of their crews for a very long time. 

Truly one of a kind, there’s no one quite like Seider or Rocket.

Also, it’s difficult to talk about Seider without Raymond, just like it’s difficult to talk about Rocket without Groot.