Having just recorded a new career-high in points last season, Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond is beginning to heat up once again.
Raymond is currently riding a five-game point streak coming into Thursday evening's tilt against the New York Islanders, having tallied twice while adding eight assists during that span. Among his points was scoring the game-winning goal against the New York Rangers on Nov. 16 late in the third period as part of Detroit's 2-1 win.
Right now, he's on track to reach 90 points, which would be a new career-best. And he's doing it while having already missed two games because of an upper-body injury.
The good news for the Red Wings is that Raymond is feeling good - and that's bad news for the rest of the NHL.
"I feel good, physically just coming back from an injury, it's always a little slow in the beginning, but I feel good," Raymond said following practice on Thursday morning. "I think the team has been playing some really good hockey games as well lately, so that helps.
"I feel good, it's a long season and you're always going to be battling something. Very rarely do you feel a hundred percent, so I feel good. There's nothing that's bothering me."
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It wasn't long ago that Raymond was a fresh-faced rookie himself during the 2021-22 NHL campaign, having to navigate through the rigors of not only playing in the top league in the world but also living on a new continent on the opposite side of the globe.
Playing in his fifth NHL season, Raymond is happy to see the progression of new rookies on the club like Nate Danielson, Emmitt Finnie, and Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
"First, it's a lot of fun, I think everything is new," Raymond said while looking back at his rookie season. "A lot of new impressions, every arena that's new and you play for the first time in against a bunch of players you watched growing up, there's a lot of excitement, and I think you want to enjoy as much as possible."
Rising Rookies: Emmitt Finnie Snaps Drought Playing With Nate Danielson Detroit Red Wings rookie forward Emmitt Finnie was happy to end his scoring drought on Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken, his first goal since Oct. 25 against the Blues. Naturally, there's going to be a learning curve for even the most highly-touted young professionals.
"At the same time, it can be tough," Raymond said of the introduction to life in the NHL. "You want to play well and have a good impact. But a lot of fun and something I'll take with me."
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