Raymond signs 8-year, $64.6 million contract with Red Wings

Lucas Raymond signed an eight-year, $64.6 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings on Monday. It has an average annual value of $8.075 million.

The 22-year-old forward, who was a restricted free agent, set NHL career highs in goals (31), assists (41), points (72, led Detroit) and power-play goals (six) last season. Raymond was also tied for second on the team in takeaways (48), behind Alex DeBrincat (49).

"Obviously very happy we got it done ahead of training camp," Raymond said Tuesday. "Of course, you always want it to get done as quickly as possible, but that’s the way it goes.

"I felt a huge difference coming into last year, just the way you see the game, the way you handle yourself off ice. And I mean that on ice as well. There are obviously areas I want to keep growing in, keep developing, taking bigger strides, taking more responsibility and getting higher expectations on myself. For sure, that’s the goal. I’m still 22, so hopefully I have a lot of development to still do."

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman pointed to Raymond's strong finish to last season, when he had 21 points (14 goals, seven assists) in Detroit's last 18 games, and 11 points (six goals, five assists) in a six-game point streak.

"Well, he certainly down the stretch took his game to another level production-wise," Yzerman said Tuesday. "We didn’t base everything on the last 20 games, but it certainly has an impact. But I felt throughout the season he continued to get better. There was a significant growth from year two to year three. Actually, year two was pretty good (45 points; 17 goals, 28 assists in 74 games), production was down a little bit, but it was a good year for him and a learning season.

"He grinded it out, had a very good offseason last year and came in and played really well and then took off down the stretch. We were not shocked by that. We were obviously very pleased how he finished the season and showed he has the ability to play at a higher level and he did that in all aspects.

"You can never guarantee how production goes, but I expect him to be one of our top players again. I expect his game to continue to grow this year. Last year helped his case a lot. ... we were thrilled to see him play that well."

Raymond said, "I don’t feel like I did anything extra. It just came together (well). If you look at my season, I didn’t really change anything. I just kept playing the same way and got a little bit of a different result. At the same time, I don’t think it was that huge of a difference, the end of the season compared to the last two thirds of the season. I think I figured out a lot of things about my game, what makes me good and to be able to do that on a consistent basis."

Selected by Detroit with the No. 4 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Raymond has 174 points (71 goals, 103 assists) in 238 regular-season games.

Yzerman said he sees no reason why Raymond shouldn't continue to improve even further.

"I don’t know if there’s a specific age that a player peaks at, but I think he’s just entering the early stages of his prime," Yzerman said. "I fully expect him to become a better hockey player for a couple of reasons: I think he’s extremely driven, an extremely bright player and his motivation and what-not, he’ll just continue to get better over the next few years. As far as projections, on these long-term deals on younger players, there’s a little bit of projection in it. there’s expectation the player will take his game to another level, and that’s on both sides. I’m very confident that Lucas will do that."

Yzerman said negotiations on a new contract for restricted free agent defenseman Moritz Seider are ongoing.

"We continue to talk, Yzerman said. "I’m hopeful we can get a deal done at some point. Obviously sooner than later would be better for both parties. I don’t think we’re terribly far apart, but hopefully we can progress and get him here as soon as possible."

Seider, the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has not missed a game in three seasons in the League. The 23-year-old had 42 points (nine goals, 33 assists) last season and led the Red Wings with 22:22 of average ice time per game. He has completed a three-year entry-level contract he signed July 14, 2019, that began with the 2021-22 season.

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report