Coach McLellan is comparing Raymond to Redwings great Henrik Zetterberg.
“I said one day he reminds me a little of (Henrik) Zetterberg,” McLellan said. “You could open up a whole book of adjectives to describe Zetterberg. I could probably do that for Lucas right now. He’s a complete player. He plays all three zones; he plays them equally hard. He values each of the three as importantly as the stat sheet. I don’t want to say it’s hard to find players like that but when you do you treasure them.”
Raymond was doing fine before McLellan became Detroit Red Wings coach on Dec. 26. Since then, his game has reached another level. He has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 16 games under McLellan. He ranks second in the NHL in points during this time, one behind Boston’s David Pastrnak.
With 20 goals and 56 points in 50 games, Raymond is on pace to reach 90 points. No Red Wing has done that since Pavel Datsyuk tallied 97 in both 2007-08 and 2008-09. Zetterberg also hit the mark in 2007-08 (92 points) both players of which were also known for their 2 way game.
“He’s got an abrasiveness to him that I wasn’t aware of,” McLellan said. “I’m going to use a name, and he’s not that player, but a little bit of Zetterberg in him like that determination and a little bit of abrasiveness, the fire kind of.”
McLellan added, “I think they’re both winners. The difference right now is Hank has the jewelry to prove it (2008 Stanley Cup ring) and it takes a team to do that. But I think you could win with Raymond for sure. Competitive, two-way, high hockey IQ, leader.”
Raymond also became the fourth Swede in NHL history to score 20+ goals three different times before the age of 23, joining Mats Sundin (who did it four times), Filip Forsberg, and Gabriel Landeskog.
