Todd McLellan compares Lucas Raymond to former Detroit Red Wings star
Todd McLellan has returned to the Detroit Red Wings, and he's seeing in Lucas Raymond what he saw in a top forward for 3 years as an assistant with the Red Wings.
The Detroit Red Wings made a badly-needed coaching change on December 26, bringing former 2008 Stanley Cup-winning assistant Todd McLellan back to Hockeytown as head coach.
He replaced Derek Lalonde, who wasn't getting the most out of the players, behind the bench. And the difference has been night and day so far, as he's guided the Red Wings to 7-straight wins, their longest winning streak since January of 2012.
Tonight, the Red Wings host the San Jose Sharks at Little Caesars Arena (7:00 PM, FanDuel Sports Detroit, 97.1 The Ticket) and will aim for their 8th-straight win, which would be their longest since their Cup-winning season of 2008.
And a major part of that winning streak is the play of Lucas Raymond, who is 2nd overall in the NHL in total points scored since late December (behind only his Red Wings teammate, Patrick Kane).
In McLellan's mind,, he sees lots of similarities between Raymond and former Red Wings Conn Smythe Trophy winner and captain Henrik Zetterberg, who he coached for 3 years from 2005 to 2008.
So, throw in all the other skills and that's what I see in Lucas.
Zetterberg, a fellow Swede with Raymond, succeeded Nicklas Lidstrom as team captain in 2013 and played until 2018. He's still eligible to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
