I'm not a Wings fan, but where is Raymond ?

Grand Rapids

Why ? Does he is that bad ?

Yup

Explaination ? (if you want)

Kane signs for league min with whatever team is leading the league when he’s ready to return and I can’t see that being Detroit

He's the only guy that hates him. I'd love to hear what players he actually likes on the Red Wings since he's a self-proclaimed Red Wings fan.

Anyone who thinks Raymond should be in the AHL Is someone I can’t take seriously

I am a die-hard Red Wings fan. It's important to understand that I grew up in the 90s watching incredible Red Wings teams as a kid. And then as a teenager I got to see them still be pretty solid, I've seen my team win four Stanley Cups. So the standard is pretty high and this team has been awful for almost ten years. And overall there aren't many players on this team that play up to those standards. I think Dylan Larkin is a number two center at best, I think he lacks hands and creativity.. I think he's one of the more overrated centers in the league.. I do think he is a good skater and is defensively responsible and has a decent shot. I think last year was a career year for him, I don't think he'll have that good of a season again. Alex DeBrincat can score and is a decent playmaker but is pretty small and didn't look great in the pre season, I think he needs Patrick Kane. Lucas Raymond in my opinion is the softest winger in the league and has a average shot at best. Most of his goals are tap ins five feet in front. He's still struggling adapting his game to the small ice because there's less time and space. He's bad on the boards turning the puck over in his own end and he provides zero forecheck. His only value is as a decent playmaker on the second powerplay. He was easily the worst forward the last thirty games last season. He played with zero edge most games. And in the pre season again he looked soft and didn't impress other than on the powerplay where he has more time and space to make passes but his shot is really average. He took a undisciplined penalty in a tied game against Pittsburgh because someone barely hit him. I would honestly send him down to Grand Rapids and try to convert him to a center or I would trade him cus he's not a good winger. I like Michael Rasmussen a lot because he's a heavy player that is strong on the boards and is great on the forecheck and is good defensively. He's a good fourth line center but is best playing on the wing in a checking role. JT Compher and Copp are good third line centers but neither should be a second line center. Both are good defensively but not offensively, although Copp played better the second half of last season. He didn't impress me in the pre season though. I think Daniel Sprong looked like our best forward as he has a really good slapper. Lucas Raymond needs to start using that shot instead of his weak wrist shot. Daniel Sprong had more goals than Lucas Raymond last season playing half the minutes. I like Klim Kostin for his physical play but didn't do much in the pre season. The pre season was a joke honestly. If they play that bad they will finish last in the Atlantic division. They got out skated by the Toronto Marlies. Joe Veleno looked good though, better than Dylan Larkin actually. Robby Fabbri is pretty good but is always injured. David Perron is old and slow and is only getting older. He got better as the season went on last year. Moritz Seider is good but is still learning how to play defense. I don't like how he defended a one on one the other night against the Toronto Marlies. He put his stick out and made it harder for the goalie to track the puck, Husso would normally save that one. I guess Moritz Seider never watched Don Cherry growing up, not surprised by that since he's German and not Canadian. But overall I like his size, skating and physical play. Jake Walman is a good skater and puck moving dman. Simon Edvinsson is extremely talented but raw and is starting in Grand Rapids. Ollie Määttä is good defensively. Ben Chiarot is Ben Chiarot. Justin Holl is Justin Holl. Ghost is good offensively. Husso is a great backup or tandem goalie. James Reimer is James Reimer. Alex Lyon is very athletic and is a good third goalie to have. Overall this team is built to be strong down the middle defensively but not offensively. To win like that you need good defensive structure which they seem to have. But you can't be good defensively if Lucas Raymond is in your lineup, -30 rookie season then -17 last year. He's a turnover machine and stinks. I need to see more from Alex DeBrincat too cus if he's not producing offensively it's not ideal to have another soft winger in your lineup. Maybe he's not soft but he's definitely not a heavy player. I like having tough, physical wingers up and down my lineup, especially if your the Red Wings with those centers, just my opinion. They can win by have a great penalty kill and decent powerplay and good goaltending. But will struggle if Lucas Raymond is in the lineup and if Alex DeBrincat isn't a star. I think they finish 7th or 8th in the Atlantic. The worst part for the Red Wings is they don't have any elite prospects other than Simon Edvinsson. Nate Danielson looked good but will be another Dylan Larkin at best. The Yzerplan is a mess at best. Look at the contracts he's given out to Larkin, Copp, Chiarot, Holl and Fabbri. That's not good. His saving grace is Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson. They need a franchise center and physical heavy wingers to replace Lucas Raymond and potentially Alex DeBrincat. I don't see that happening so the Red Wings are doomed.

I actually agree with most of what you said, but even if you don't like Raymond I still think you are under valuating that crap out of him. I think you know he would fetch much higher prices with other teams even if you don't like him. As much as size is important, talent is very much so important. You don't normally get that from the brutes. I understand wanting the team to be as good as when we were kids, but that was a different time without a hard cap making everyone have an equal chance and with less teams. Therefore, patience is needed. As for the Yzerplan, I think he's overall done a great job considering a lot of factors. A lot of people like to trash on the Yzerplan just because of how long it's taking, but he said it was going to take a long time. Red Wings have gotten screwed in almost every lottery we have been in, if not only stood pat in our draft position. As for the signings, yes I do disagree with some of them but he did also do plenty of great signings like Sprong that we both like so much. I hate the +/- stat so much, it negates so much of what is actually happening. Raymond has played on a bad team for the last two years, so of course his +/- is gonna be crap. Sure some of them would, be his fault but he's still very young. Sophomore years are normally rough for a lot of players. I am very much hoping he proves you wrong this year, but we will see. I think you just have a bit more faith and patience I have a strong feeling this is gonna turn around soon where we will be playoff contenders.