Because the Detroit Red Wings lost the 57 points scored by Patrick Kane last season when the future Hall of Famer departed to return to the Chicago Blackhawks, they’re going to need other players to elevate their respective performances.
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One of those players they’ll be looking toward is Lucas Raymond, who experienced a dip in production in 2025-26 compared to the previous campaign.
That being said, Raymond still made it onto the NHL’s 20 Best Wingers list released earlier in the week.
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Although Raymond looked limited late last season, often passing up shooting opportunities and finishing without a goal over his final seven games, he dismissed the idea that he was dealing with a specific injury when speaking to the media after the campaign came to a close.
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In 80 games during the 2025-26 season, Raymond scored 25 goals and added 51 assists, finishing with four fewer points than he recorded the year before. His shot total also fell from 192 to 173, a decline that did not go unnoticed by head coach Todd McLellan.
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“He’s 92nd in shots on goal….he shouldn’t be in there,” McLellan said of Raymond in mid-March. “He should be in the top 50 at least, top 40 in my opinion, with the amount of ice time and opportunities, the looks at the net.”
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For the Red Wings to maximize their chances for success in 2026-27, they’ll need Raymond to deliver – not only to help ease the burden of Kane’s departure, but especially if Dylan Larkin‘s trade request is granted by whoever succeeds Steve Yzerman as GM.
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