Detroit Red Wings sign Lucas Raymond to 8-year contract extension

Well, it was a busy Monday for Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, just a few days before training camp is set to begin. Yzerman was able to address a couple of pressing issues by signing a pair of restricted free agents. First, Yzerman inked prospect Jonatan Berggren to a one-year deal worth $875,000.

The bigger news came later in the evening when it was announced that star winger Lucas Raymond, 22, and the Red Wings had agreed on a massive eight-year extension worth $64.6 million. That works out to $8.075 million annually, which in two or three years may prove to be very team-friendly for various reasons. The NHL salary cap has consistently increased, and that trend is expected to continue; plus, Raymond is quickly coming into his own as a top-flight scoring winger with a ton of room to continue to evolve. The deal does not include a signing bonus and also includes a ten-team no-trade clause for the final four years.

Raymond's new deal takes him to the age of 30 when he will likely see another opportunity to sign the second maximum-term deal of his career. Raymond led the Red Wings with 72 points last season and finished second to Dylan Larkin (33) on the club with 31 goals.

Lucas Raymond and the Detroit Red Wings agree to an eight-year contract extension.

Despite getting off to a slow start to begin the season, scoring just 12 goals in his first 45 games, Raymond quickly blossomed into a franchise-caliber, cornerstone-like forward as the year trekked on and really enjoyed a coming-out party while Larkin was out injured late in the year with Detroit's postseason hopes in the balance. It was Raymond grabbing the bull by its horns and dragging the Red Wings toward the playoffs, only to fall a point short in hopes of breaking the drought that has now reached eight years. Raymond scored 14 goals in Detroit's final 18 games and totaled seven goals and 12 points over the team's final eight games while maintaining a plus-8 rating playing over 20 minutes per night.

Yzerman selected Raymond with the no. 4 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft. Raymond, like Moritz Seider, forced their way into Detroit's lineup quicker than many, including Yzerman, expected with their robust training camp and preseason play. As you know, Yzerman tends to prefer his prospects develop and grow at each level, often leaving fans feeling as though NHL-ready prospects are marinating and, in some cases, overcooking in Grand Rapids before they become a mainstay with the Red Wings.

After taking over for Ken Holland, the cupboards were bare, the roof was caving in, and the foundation wasn't sturdy. Yzerman was able to hang his hat on, beginning to rebuild that foundation by drafting Raymond and Seider, but there was nothing much else at the NHL level in the way of Yzerman draft selections, and it was beginning to wear thin on a select group of Red Wings fans. Now, when you begin to look across Detroit's prospect pool, you're seeing a ton of young Yzerman drafted players that have the makings of being impactful NHL players in the near future, such as Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson, Simon Edvinsson, Sebastian Cossa, Trey Augustine, and Axel Sandin Pellikka just to name a few.

Last but not least, the Detroit Red Wings need to get a similar contract extension completed with star defenseman Moritz Seider. According to Spotrac, the Red Wings have about $9.5 million in cap space remaining following Monday's extensions.