For the first time since the 1960's, the Detroit Red Wings have the reigning Calder Trophy winner as the National Hockey League's best rookie. Defenseman Moritz Seider made an immediate impact on his team, showing the poise of a veteran with a decade of experience, despite this being only his second season of professional hockey in North America. 

But Seider wasn't the only rookie on last year's Red Wings squad, as Swedish forward Lucas Raymond demonstrated an offensive flair and also firmly etched himself into the Calder conversations. While making an appearance on the "32 Thoughts" Podcast hosted by Sportsnet's Elliott Friedman, Seider said that if he was allowed to cast a vote for the award, it would have been Raymond as the recipient. 

"My vote would have gone to Lucas," he said. "Just seeing him develop during the years special to me, and having someone on your team going through the same phases was really cool." 

"He's even younger than me, I'm always usually the youngest in any team, but people are just coming in and they're younger," Sedier continued. "He's really mature for his age, so I think that's definitely something people should know about him." 

The Red Wings unfortunately missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 6th straight season, despite having flirted with a Wild Card berth for the first three months of the campaign before stumbling after the calendar turned to February. 

"We have the right guys in the locker room, but it's about the depth and our team. We couldn't do it for 82 games, it's what we struggled the most with. But it will be fun watching us this year." 

There's certainly reason for renewed optimism in Hockeytown this season with so many new faces in the lineup, as general manager Steve Yzerman was certainly busy over the offseason making additions. 

"I texted Larks right away, and he's like, 'Yeah man I'm so pumped too!'" Seider said of his many new teammates. "We couldn't believe it, it will be fun coming into the locker room in two weeks in Detroit. Hopefully we can create some chemistry from the start, and it will be a fun year for us."