Raleigh, N.C. — Alex Nedeljkovic has had a front-row seat watching Moritz Seider go through the rookie defenseman’s season.
From Nedeljkovic’s goaltending position, he’s watched Seider, the Red Wings’ likely NHL Rookie of the Year, seemingly get better daily from October to now.
And Nedeljkovic has enjoyed the view.
“Very, very impressive,” Nedeljkovic said after Thursday’s victory at Carolina, where Seider had a goal and had another stellar all-around game. “From day one in (training) camp to today, and the best part is he’s gotten better. He was really good in camp and he was really good at the start of the year (season), real good and better in December.
“And he’s better today than he was yesterday.”
Not that Seider has to put many more exclamation points to it. If you gauge the mock polls and get a sense of the social media opinions, Seider appears to be a sure bet to win the Calder Trophy.
But Thursday, against the powerful Hurricanes, Seider added to his resume with the game-winning goal in Thursday’s 3-0 victory.
It was Seider’s sixth goal, to go along with 41 assists, tops among rookies. Offense was supposed to be an area Seider was maybe a bit lacking compared to other segments of his profile, but in this rookie season, Seider has produced better offensively than expected.
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Coach Jeff Blashill believes the offense can be expanded if Seider becomes increasingly dangerous on the power play.
“There’s a lot of areas he can continue to get better and one of the areas you actually develop is if you can become an elite power-play guy,” Blashill said. “He’s got to keep working at that, but that’s offense for sure.
“I just think the overall game will ultimately separate him.”
The competition for the Calder Trophy is deep.
Lucas Raymond, Seider’s talented teammate, has had an outstanding debut season, with 22 goals and 55 points, giving the Wings the likely top two vote-getters in the balloting. Anaheim forward Trevor Zegras, Toronto forward Michael Bunting, Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman and Montreal forward Cole Caufield have been impressive and deserve votes.
But Seider, over the long haul, has been consistently dominant.
“He does a pretty good job of fighting through mistakes and coming to the next shift and being better,” Blashill said. “He doesn’t let it bother him too much. It doesn’t affect his play too much.”
Carrying himself as a veteran beyond his years has helped Seider achieve his success, as well.
Veteran players have been impressed with Seider’s approach, something beyond his tender age and experience level.
“He’s a fantastic player and I imagine he’s going to keep getting better with his work ethic and his attention to detail and his will to improve,” forward Sam Gagner said. “He’s been a lot of fun to watch this year.”
Interestingly, rather than keeping Seider with one veteran all season as a defensive partner, Blashill has put four different defensemen alongside Seider, and it hasn’t affected the rookie negatively in any way.
In fact, it’s been Seider who often has righted and stabilized the veterans’ play on the ice.
Beginning with Nick Leddy (who was dealt at the trade deadline), and with Danny DeKeyser, Marc Staal (for a brief time), and Jordan Oesterle along the way, Seider has actually, oftentimes, been the player to steady the defense.
“For the most part, he’s played with a veteran,” Blashill said. “I would say with any of the guys, one thing we’ve been fortunate with is that we’ve been able to pair him with different players that all have real good attributes as veterans.
“Even a guy like Jordan Oesterle’s been around the league now a bit, so he’s played with guys that have experience. Marc Staal, Danny DeKeyser, Nick Leddy, Jordan Oesterle, they’ve all got experience. It still allows him, no matter if it’s the same person or a different person, for Seider to be with someone whose been around and can help.
“The stuff that he needs to continue to get better at, we’ve done through coaching. And I also think the players that he’s played with have helped him with that.”
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But there’s been another angle to whoever has gotten the opportunity to be Seider’s partner. That is, Seider hasn’t needed much guidance on the ice, and in fact, is the player often lifting his partner and others around him.
“The reality is Seider doesn’t need much help,” Blashill said. “He’s done a really good job with his game and he’s had a big impact on a night-to-night basis.”
Back to Nedeljkovic, who technically is still a rookie, after last season being a finalist for the Calder Trophy when he was playing in Carolina. Nedeljkovic, too, was considered a leading contender to be a finalist again for the award this season, but a second-half slump likely knocked him out of many ballots.
Now with the Wings, Nedeljkovic is hoping for a long stay with the Wings. And playing with Seider on the blue line would make the experience that much more enjoyable.
“Hopefully I can play a lot of games behind him the rest of the way,” Nedeljkovic said. “In a young kid, to be able to do that at a high level and in this league right away, he has a bright future.”
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan
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