Am I the only one who doesn't get the obsession with putting Raymond on the first line? I get that he's looked great in the preseason, and that he has a ton of potential, and I've personally been a big fan of him for years, but he is still 19 years old.
You wanna know how many under 20s there are in the top 6 in the NHL right now? 3: Tim Stützle, William Eklund (probably), and Alexis Lafrenière. Only Lafrenière has a real shot at starting the season on the 1st line, and he's a 1st overall pick and already has a season under his belt. Stützle will probably play on the 2nd line on a Sens team that is struggling a lot offensively, and the only reason the Sharks might have Eklund in the top 6 is because Eklund looked incredible in preseason, and for that top 6 spot they're basically picking between him and a 34 year old Andrew Cogliano, so they don't really have a choice. Detroit do have choices, a pretty significant amount of choices actually, so why toss him straight from the SHL onto the 1st line? I doubt even Seider will play in the top 2 for the wings, and he's older, has an AHL season, and was basically a lock for the team before training camp even started. It's honestly idiotic to put Raymond on the first line in his rookie season, without giving him a chance to develop in a lower pressure role.

I agree with you 100% on Raymond. Seider is a different animal. He is mature beyond his years and Leddy-Seider has been far and away our top pairing in the pre-season.

Yeah true, I'm still cautious with putting him on the top pairing, same with Nils Lundkvist, but he's definitely got a ton of potential and will probably be a calder contender, especially if he gets a lot of icetime with Leddy.

Easy counter - so many people are obsessed with "usage" and "role" and "pressure". Raymond should be on the top line, playing with skilled forwards and centers. Where do you want to put him? With Ras or Stephens or Smith or Erne where he'll never touch the puck? All of this shelter BS is just that ---- BS.

The kid is a top pick, he's already an NHLer. If he can't handle the heat of the top line (or two lines), then we have a problem.

Also, Raymond has looked better this offseason than LaF has looked his entire NHL career, for whatever that's worth.

but that's just lunacy, if you want a player to reach their potential, let them develop. Yes he looks good so far, but you have to understand that one he's 19 years old, and two it is just pre season. The guys who are already confirmed usually don't play to their max in the preseason games because they don't really need to. Raymond will be playing as well as he possibly can because he's trying to earn a spot, you have to take everything with a grain of salt in training camps and preseason games. Yes he looks to be the best forward prospect in this team, and he's definitely earned a spot on the team, but you don't instantly throw him in with Larkin and Zadina, you let him develop a bit, maybe on the 3rd line, but probably with Fabbri and Suter on the 2nd line. For the love of god he hasn't even played an AHL game yet, just give him some time. I'd say of he can't handle playing almost 20 minutes a game against the best players in the world, in a super high pressure environment, on smaller rinks he's not at all used, as someone who can't even legally drink in the US yet, then we might be rushing him a bit.

Also, Laf certainly does look good, he's not lighting up the NHL yet, but he's been playing in a lesser role, and hasn't got a ton of icetime, but is developing really well and looks set for a breakout year next year.

Raymond is better off in the AHL than playing on a 3rd line or 4th in Detroit. I hate that nonsense Ken Holland attitude - it makes no sense. He doesn't play a bottom 6 game; putting him there doesn't help his development.

Compared to what all the talking heads said about LaF, he looks rather mundane. I expect him to have a much better year this year and be a legit top 6 forward, of course, but it just makes me giggle how overhyped all these "top" prospects are.

If you could read, you'd know I said "probably 2nd line". You're also completely ignoring my point.

He played really well on the second line with Fabbri and Suter, but played elite with Larkin and Zadina on the first line. Nobody regrets playing Larkin with Zetterberg his rookie year.

I don't remember the 2015-16 Red Wings being that good of a team...

and anyway no one expected Larkin to be that good that quick, he's a rarity. I don't really care how good Raymond looked offensively in the preseason games, almost anyone would look good playing with Larkin and Zadina, it still doesn't change the fact that he hasn't played a single official game on the smaller North American ice rinks. Larkin had played his entire life on the smaller ice rinks, where he'd developed at an insane rate that you just can't expect from most other players. He needs time to develop his defensive game, his skating doesn't look great, and he's got no NHL experience. He'd unarguably be better of developing on the 2nd line than the 1st line.

We've not had a young offensive talent like Raymond in years, probably a decade or more. We always go the draft and development route, we did with Zadina/Ras/Vel, and Z's scoring has dried up and trending in the wrong way these last two years so we all see how that's gone.

Also, we're all working on hypotheticals - he needs to adjust to the smaller rink (doesn't seem like it so far), these are just preseason games (not that its the best person to quote but Blashill said that CHI game was basically CHI's regular season roster and the kid killed it) and what if his confidence falters and he fatigues later in the year (what if it doesn't and he pots 60+ points wins the Calder and the rainbows and unicorns descend on Detroit). Whatever. Anything can happen, look what happened to Vrana after 10 minutes on the ice this year. Bummer.

To me, a nobody 30+yr wings fan and hockey player like everyone else here, he looks legit. His shot is lights out, and in my very humble opinion his shot is a billion times better than Zadina's, meaning, and its so so early but, we've not had an offensive prospect like Raymond in a long time. I say put him in the NHL, screw this 'season in the AHL' because Raymond is not Veleno, Zadina, Ras, whatever forward/offensive prospect we've had in the last few years. He's clearly better than all of them from an offensive stand point already and we need goals to get better, improve our power play and the same formula doesn't work for everyone. Let's go already!