Ripping the puck. Nothing but net, again and again.
Lucas Raymond put on a clinic for fans toward the end of practice during Saturday’s practice in Traverse City.
He and his teammates seemed to have some fun as Raymond worked on his shot. Putting his all into it, Raymond showered the net with hard, accurate blasts.
Then, a newcomer to the show skated over. A calm, poised look on his face, he didn’t break a sweat as he wound up, and quickly released the puck off a feed.
It flew at a velocity Raymond only dreams of.
One of the many reasons that the Detroit Red Wings re-signed Patrick Kane.
Detroit Red Wings Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond have a healthy competition this season: a fight for the top right-wing spot
The Detroit Red Wings lack a superstar in their pipeline or so they say.
In this case, “they” is any of the public scouts or people who pass judgment on the Detroit Red Wings prospects and players.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but in the case of the Detroit Red Wings, it seems like few public scouts watch the Detroit Red Wings regularly (if at all). It can be disheartening as a fan to hear depressing takes on their favorite players and prospects.
While other fans may claim these takes are valid, I can’t help but think otherwise.
I reckon these Detroit Red Wings have more than a few surprises in their pipeline. The first player who breaks out for the Detroit Red Wings into the superstar tier will be Raymond. To me, it’s not a matter of if but when.
Raymond has the inner drive that being good or exceptional doesn’t cut it.
He wants to elevate his game to the nth degree. Not for awards or a higher paycheck, but to drag his team as far as he can on his back.
As Raymond watches, learns, and adapts other aspects of his teammates’ games to his own style, Raymond is only going to improve. Couple these aspects with his foundations, I know the Detroit Red Wings have something special in their fourth overall pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft.
Possibly the best model he can learn from is also the guy he’s fighting for the number one right-winger spot.
Kane puts Raymond’s shot to shame.
This statement is not slight against Raymond. The young $64 million man has a great, if not fantastic, shot.
It’s hard and accurate, in addition to a quick release.
Meanwhile, Kane has to possess one of the best shots in the game even at his age.
It is lethal without Kane even trying.
Technique is everything. A vital key to Raymond’s continued success in a brutal league.
Kane’s shot is only one of many traits that Raymond can pull from as he watches one of the greatest American-born hockey players.
Nuances drip from his silky mitts as he acts like a ninja across the ice. While other players dazzle and dance, Kane puts on his invisibility cloak, where defenders focus on everyone but on him.
You would think after 16 seasons in the NHL someone would catch on, but Kane’s too good at finding soft space on the ice.
Raymond is a bit more like Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. They’re not so subtle with their play on the ice. Fans and opponents tend to know where the two are on the ice (usually, it stems from these guys making good or fancy plays). Especially for Raymond, however, it would benefit his game to borrow the subtle plays and movement from Kane’s game.
Learning to disappear for stretches doesn’t leave Raymond’s team in a tough spot. Instead, it puts him right in the crosshairs of a detrimental shot to the Detroit Red Wings’ opponents.
In turn, I think Raymond helps Kane. After so many seasons in the NHL, Kane doesn’t need to learn anything or have a reason to come to the ice every day. He’s Patrick Kane.
Yet, it’s a fun competition to compete with Raymond in a healthy way.
There are few players on a team who can slot in above Kane, and I’m not sure how long Raymond plays above Kane in the lineup. Honestly, head coach Derek Lalonde may roll the top two lines pretty interchangeably where ice time is spread evenly among the top two lines. Making the first two lines essentially one-a and one-b, with no real second line.
While we saw Kane oppose his likely linemates (J.T. Compher and Vladimir Tarasenko) in the annual Red & White Game in Traverse City, Michigan, the capstone of training camp, and it’s possible Kane starts the season on line three, I think Jonatan Berggren would have to do some real fancy footwork to claim a top-six spot. (Fortunately for all parties involved Berggren seems to have a stellar attitude and is happy to help the team anywhere he’s penciled into the lineup.)
Again, he’s Patrick Kane and a version that had a full summer to train, so he’s not getting leapfrogged unless crazy things happen.
At training camp, Kane might have looked stiff, but at the young age of 35, it’s understandable. Bodies just don’t work the same after age 30 and his has gone through a lot.
Even with stiffness, Kane was faster and more agile on his skates than last season. Couple those facts with more confidence in his body and teammates, I think he’s going to surprise people.
It’s likely lines will change throughout the season and pretty regularly. Whether due to injury, the coach’s unexciting decision(s), or just because, it seems Lalonde enjoyed mixing things up towards the end of the season.
Kane and Raymond will likely get acquainted with linemates throughout the forward group.
Both can jumpstart a struggling line, but Raymond is more likely to provide (or at least attempt) a two-way game. Although it’s something the Detroit Red Wings demand of every player, there is only so much defense that Kane will play.
He does what he can, when he can and that’s more than might have been said while Kane played for other teams in the league.
There are times when Kane cheats for offense, but he’s well-equipped to pick his spots, and time it just right more often than not.
On the other hand, Raymond goes out of his way and puts everything on the line every shift to provide anything the Detroit Red Wings demands from him at the time. I can’t think of a time that I’ve watched Raymond and I’ve thought to myself, “he sure could have tried more on that play.”
Plenty of times I thought he might have made a questionable decision, but it wasn’t due to a lack of effort or care. (Not to say Kane doesn’t care or provide effort, he just has different values/priorities as to what helps the team.)
Raymond’s dedication to putting the team first may have led to him being selected for the first line. Or, it might be the history of the Raymond, Larkin, and Alex DeBrincat line making magic last season.
If Raymond, Larkin, and DeBrincat can rekindle their magic, having Kane on the second line provides a formidable second line almost regardless of who else is on the line.
In the case of the Detroit Red Wings putting a couple of other Stanley Cup-winning players on his line doesn’t hurt.
The biggest concern for line two is the lack of two-way players. Compher is an effective two-way player, but can he keep both Tarasenko and Kane out of trouble more often than not? Will Lalonde allow the line the freedom to make the mistakes to grow to become the most effective they can be, or will it be dismantled prematurely in favor of safer pastures?
This preseason may be the most interesting and informative one for fans as well as the Detroit Red Wings coaching staff given all the question marks surrounding the roster and lineup decisions that must be made.
It’s quite a contrast to the 2023-24 preseason.