{"id":413234,"date":"2026-01-17T21:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T21:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/413234\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T21:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T21:27:12","slug":"red-wings-raymond-is-a-playmaker-detroit-hockey-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/413234\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Wings Raymond Is A Playmaker \/ Detroit Hockey Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Asked whether he\u2019s a playmaker or a goal scorer, at first Detroit<\/a> Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond<\/a> hedges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to think a little bit of both.\u201d Raymond said.<\/p>\n

So far this season, Raymond is third on the team with 14 goals. However, he\u2019s the runaway leader in lending a helping hand with 38 assists. That\u2019s 12 more than defenseman Moritz Seider, second on the team with 26 apples.<\/p>\n

Lucas Raymond tonight:<\/p>\n

\u2022 3 primary assists
\u2022 3.50 game score (2nd best of season)
\u2022 up to a 66-assist, 91-point pace on the season<\/p>\n

Is he Detroit’s #1 forward? pic.twitter.com\/oz5k8zlLcq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Big Head Hockey (@bigheadhockey) January 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Red Wings coach Todd McLellan<\/a> knows on which side of this debate he falls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always viewed him as being a pretty good playmaker, not just a pure scorer,\u201d the coach said of Raymond\u2019s skill set.<\/p>\n

Raymond led the club last season with 53 assists, contributing to his team-leading total of 80 points. At the same time, he\u2019s also scored at least 23 goals in three of his four full NHL seasons, topping out at 31 goals in 2023-24.<\/p>\n

Red Wings Raymond Can Shoot For Passes<\/p>\n

Interestingly, when assessing his personal shoot or pass debate, Raymond thinks that the former contributes significantly to the amount of the latter he counts during a campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think shots create a lot of things, whether that\u2019s a goal or just a play off of it,\u201d Raymond said. \u201cSo, you have to be a shooter, but I might be a little bit more of a playmaker, if I have to pick one. But I try to do as much of both as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLellan has urged Raymond to shoot more from a distance. It\u2019s an urging drawn partly from the fact that Raymond has such a quick release that he can score from further out. It\u2019s also in line with Raymond\u2019s theory that his shot, even if stopped by the opposition goalie, can lead to assists.<\/p>\n

Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond both reached the 50-point mark of Friday night’s game-opening goal, giving the @DetroitRedWings<\/a> multiple 50-point scorers before the club’s 50th game in a season for the first time since 2007-08 (Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk). #LGRW<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/vJoUOOMtnQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jonathan Mills (@JonathanDMillsy) January 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

In Friday\u2019s 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks, Raymond dished out three assists. The first one, when he faked a shot and then fed cross-ice to set up an Alex DeBrincat<\/a> one-timer goal on a Detroit power play, was a fitting example of how Raymond\u2019s elite shot can pose a threat that ultimately results in him drawing assists.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think on the power play, the ability to sell the shot, to know the stick (of San Jose penalty killer Alexander Wennberg) was broken, and then sell the shot to get the goalie to bite is playmaking 101,\u201d McLellan said. \u201cThere\u2019s some deception in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the poise he had on the empty net goal, too, to just calm things down and not just fire away at an empty net. He looked, he found a teammate (Marco Kasper<\/a>) wide open, and away they went.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019ve always thought he had real good playmaking skills, and we\u2019re seeing them right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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