Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond enjoyed another strong season statistically, but one couldn't help but notice that he appeared at less than 100 percent effectiveness during the later third of the campaign.
Raymond skated in 80 games in the 2025-26 season, scoring 25 goals with 51 assists for 76 points, four below his output of 80 points in 82 games last season.
However, there was a noticeable lack of using his elite shot, as he seemed more apt than not to look for an open teammate rather than getting the puck to the net himself.
Last week, Raymond declined to answer on whether or not he was suffering any lingering effects from a brutal hit that he took in the third game of the campaign against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which resulted in a two-game absence.
“Obviously, you’re gonna get bumps and bruises, and you’re gonna be a little bit banged up, and you gotta be able to play through that," Raymond said on Friday. "I don’t think I’m unique in that way."
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Head coach Todd McLellan, who had been vocal in his ask of Raymond to utilize his shot more and to increase his shot totals, explained on Thursday that while the Swedish-born forward was playing at less than 100 percent, he was still capable of making a difference on the ice and gave it his all.
"I think when we talk about Lucas as an individual, he's accurate when he said that few players at this time of year are 100 percent healthy," McLellan said. "He was banged up, but the difference between being banged up and injured, there's a gulf there. He was still capable of doing his job and giving us what he could."
Earlier in the season, McLellan made note of the fact that while forward Alex DeBrincat was the team leader in total shots on goal, Raymond was well behind him in shot totals.
Ultimately, DeBrincat finished fourth overall among all NHL forwards in the regular season with 287 shots on goal behind only Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Jason Robertson.
Meanwhile, Raymond fired 173 total shots on net, good for 96th among all NHL forwards.
Needless to say, McLellan is going to expect Raymond to get more pucks on net in 2026-27.
"As far as shooting and the ability to get his shot off, I'm a real big believer in his shot and in his tool kit, that may be one of the best things that he has and that he brings to the game," McLellan said. "We've talked about it, not just at the end of the season, obviously, throughout the season. If you just take his shooting percentage and you throw in an extra 100 shots, which I think he's very capable of, we have a 40-goal scorer."
McLellan echoed Yzerman's sentiments of needing to push players to be the best possible versions of themselves, and he believes getting Raymond to make the lives of opposition goaltenders more difficult with his shot is part of that process.
"That's something we'll push him towards," McLellan said. "He's a very unselfish guy. And sometimes you have to be a little bit selfish and take the shot rather than looking off. Like Steve said, those are areas that we have to push players to become better in, and that's a target for him."
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