Lucas Raymond on Detroit Red Wings’ 23-man roster: Here’s who else made the cut

Lucas Raymond made the 23-man roster and Joe Veleno did not, when the Detroit Red Wings submitted their list ahead of the NHL’s deadline.

All signs point to Raymond, the No. 4 overall pick in 2020, being in the lineup when the Wings open the 2021-22 season Thursday against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Caesars Arena. Veleno, the No. 30 pick in 2018, was assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins, but he could still be in the lineup Thursday.

“It’s a point in time in the season,” coach Jeff Blashill said after Monday’s practice. “You don’t make a team and then move on. It’s a fluctuating roster all along.”

Raymond, 19, led the Wings in preseason scoring with six points in six games. He is the first teenager to make the roster out of camp since Dylan Larkin in 2015.

“Right away, I knew he was a special player,” Larkin said. “Thinks the game, has great hands and can skate. He always looked like a good player, then I saw him on the ice in training camp. He’s a smart player. I think he plays on a different level, and it just depends for him if he can keep it going.”

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Teams had to be 23-man compliant by 5 p.m. Monday, the day before the start of the season. The Wings released veteran Bobby Ryan from his tryout earlier in the day, and sending down Veleno trimmed the forward group to 13: Raymond, Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Zadina, Robby Fabbri, Mitchell Stephens, Pius Suter, Michael Rasmussen, Carter Rowney, Givani Smith, Adam Erne, Sam Gagner and Vladislav Namestnikov.

Ryan, 34, had two goals and two assists in six games.

“We felt that Bobby had a good preseason for us, but due to roster limitations, we aren’t able to offer him a contract at this time,” Yzerman said in a release. “We will continue to evaluate whether there is an opportunity for Bobby in Detroit as the 2021-22 season begins.”

The big question regarding Raymond is whether he can sustain play through an 82-game season; he’s never faced such a grind before. It’s why revisiting signing Ryan would make sense: They both shoot right, and without Ryan on the depth chart, the only forwards who shoot right are Gagner, Rowney, and Stephens.

Erne, Rasmussen and Smith have all been banged up, and their availability for Thursday will become clearer over the coming days. Under any circumstance, Veleno had a good camp, and if he doesn’t start the season in Detroit, he’ll be a go-to guy in Grand Rapids, and be high on the list to call up when needed.

Up front was the only position with questions about how the Wings would get to 23. Eight defensemen made the cut: Moritz Seider, Filip Hronek, Nick Leddy, Danny DeKeyser, Marc Staal, Troy Stecher, Gustav Lindstrom and Jordan Oesterle. The goaltending spots went to Thomas Greiss and Alex Nedeljkovic.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.