With the upcoming 4 Nations Face-off Tournament in February, multiple Detroit Red Wings players were candidates to be named to the rosters of their respective countries.
Among the top candidates were Lucas Raymond (Sweden), Dylan Larkin and Patrick Kane (United States), and Cam Talbot (Canada).
Minutes ago, it was announced that Raymond had indeed secured his spot on Team Sweden's roster.
The Red Wings already have an incredible heritage of Swedish stars who have represented their homeland in international and Olympic tournaments.
Nicklas Lidstrom, Mikael Samuelsson, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Tomas Holmstrom all represented Team Sweden in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Included on that team was future Red Wing Daniel Alfredsson, along with the late former prospect Stefan Liv; they won the Gold Medal, their first in team Olympic history.
The Red Wings inked Raymond to an eight-year contract extension during Training Camp, which coincided with an eight-year extension for defenseman Moritz Seider.
Seider would have almost certainly been a lock to make the German squad had they been included in the Tournament, but only Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden are represented.
Raymond is heating up for the Red Wings, having collected points in 10 of his last 11 games.
He also has goals in six of his last seven games, which included five straight outings in which he lit the lamp.
Congratulations Lucas Raymond, keep up the good work and continue making Red Wings Nation and your native homeland proud!
POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 4 | 133 ANSWERS Detroit Red Wings' Lucas Raymond learns his fate for 4 Nations Face-Off How do you feel about Lucas Raymond representing Team Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-off? | ||
Congrats, well-deserved honor! | 114 | 85.7 % |
I'd rather him not play to avoid potential injury | 19 | 14.3 % |
List of polls |