The Detroit Red Wings are getting closer to completing one of their last three big pieces of offseason business: re-signing star forward Lucas Raymond.
As of Friday, all of Raymond, fellow forward Jonatan Berggren and star defenseman Moritz Seider remain without new contracts, and the clock is ticking before Detroit's training camp opens on September 19.
But according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta, a new contract for the young Swede could be coming sooner rather than later.
“They aren’t there yet, but they are talking a lot and trying to hammer away and get this done,” Pagnotta confirmed on Thursday. “The focus is still on long-term, and talks have gained traction, but they’re still grinding away at it.”
Contract talks between Raymond's camp at CAA and the Red Wings have picked up over the last 10 days, and with just under two weeks until training camps open across the National Hockey League, there's ample time to get a deal done.
Pagnotta also reports that both sides are focused on a long-term contract, rather than a short-term bridge deal that would only span a couple of seasons.
“Talks are planned to continue this week and on with the goal of a long-term deal to be finalized between now and the start of camp,” finished the hockey insider.
Lucas Raymond is a key piece of Red Wings' forward core
The 22-year-old Raymond burst onto the scene in his rookie year in 2021-22, playing a full 82-game slate and chipping in 23 goals and 57 points on a rebuilding Red Wings squad.
Although he suffered a bit of a sophomore slump, tallying just 45 points in 74 games in 2022-23, he broke out as a true star forward this past season.
In 2023-24, despite starting off slowly, Raymond amassed career-highs across the board, scoring 31 goals and 72 points in 82 games in the final season of his three-year, entry-level deal.
That should help the former No. 4 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft command a solid AAV on his next pact, although it's unclear exactly what range that will fall in. The Red Wings do have a couple other players to pay this summer, after all.
And the squad only has $17.6 million in cap space to work with, per PuckPedia, with Seider and Berggren also to lock up.
“Like Raymond, I can confirm the Wings are also working/focused on long-term contract with Seider, as well,” Pagnotta confirmed on Thursday. “And like Raymond, there’s still work that needs to be done before a new deal is finalized.”
As for Berggren, he returned to Detroit this week, and Pagnotta reports that his next contract “should be worked out” before the start of training camp.
It'll be interesting to see how Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman manages to sign all of Raymond, Seider and Berggren before training camp opens later this month.
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