With the first half of the 2022-23 NHL season bookmarked by the All-Star Break, I decided to take a look at a few players who had a strong first half for the Detroit Red Wings. These are players who could really make a splash going down the stretch as their playoff chances increase or drift away.
Related: Red Wings Shuffle Pairings To Unlock Seider
It may be a pipe dream to think of the Red Wings making the playoffs, but until they are mathematically eliminated there is still a chance. These players have had good statistical success, bring value to their teammates, and are important pieces to keep an eye on for the rest of the season.
Lucas Raymond and His Power Play Production
Lucas Raymond had 34 points in his first 43 games in 2021-22. This season, he’s amassed 32 points in 47 games. While he is behind his pace from 2021-22 (barely), he has been more productive on the power play. Fourteen power play points this season to his nine power play points at this point last year. His shooting percentage is higher at 17.9 percent, while last season it was 12.5 percent. This has translated into 15 goals through his first 47 games in 2022-23. Last season, 11 of his first 34 points were goals.
Lastly, for Raymond, his individual points percentage (IPP), and power play individual points percentage (PPIPP) show us a player who is becoming an incredible threat on the power play. Every time a goal is scored there are usually three skaters (out of five) who either get the goal, primary assist, or secondary assist. Three out of five give us 60 percent, which is a good baseline for a good player. Raymond is at 65.3 this season and 65.5 last season. His PPIPP jumped remarkably to 77.8 this year compared to 62.1 last year. It is not uncommon for a dominant power play player to have a high PPIPP. Case in point, Connor McDavid has only had a PPIPP of less than 70 percent once in his career. Raymond is turning into an incredible power play producer and that is enough reason to believe he will break his point production from 2021-22.
Jake Walman and Freeing Up Moritz Seider
It is more difficult to isolate the effect that Jake Walman is having on his teammates than what Raymond is doing for the team. One of the biggest things that has changed with Walman is his skyrocketing ice time (TOI), as playing with Seider has given him a boost from 15:21 TOI to 19:42 TOI. Another big thing is that he’s playing the style of game that Derek Lalonde wants the Red Wings to have with his speed, skating, and puck skills. Lalonde called him the Red Wings’ best defender at the moment. He noted that “he’s closing gaps” and “confident with the puck” as well as “winning battles”. All of those things should be at the top of every defender’s to-do list game in and game out.
Latest News & Highlights
In the stats below we can see the impact Walman has had on Seider: fewer high-danger chances against, fewer chances against, and less than one-third of the goals against. If we multiply their high-danger chances for (HDCF) and goals-for (GF) numbers by two so that we get closer to the TOI that Seider shared with Chiarot, we’d come out with 88 HDCF, 90 high-danger chances against (HDCA), 20 GF, and 16 goals against (GA). Walman and Chiarot, meanwhile, would have more HDCF and GF while giving up less GA and HDCA.
| Pairing | TOI | CF% | HDCF | HDCA | HDCF% | On-Ice SH% | On-Ice SV% | PDO | GF | GA |
| Seider & Chiarot | 480.23 | 43.19 | 72 | 107 | 40.22 | 8.6 | 88.52 | 971 | 19 | 31 |
| Seider & Walman | 233:30 | 53.79 | 44 | 45 | 49.44 | 8.4 | 90.48 | 989 | 10 | 8 |
His defensive ability, offensive skills, and chemistry with Seider are all reasons to be excited and optimistic about the rest of his season. With Walman set to become a free agent in the offseason, it will be interesting to keep tabs on if the organization decides to re-sign him sooner rather than later.
Dylan Larkin Looking for a Big Contract AAV
Dylan Larkin had a good first half of the 2022-23 season where he collected 44 points in 48 games. His shooting percentage is 9.9 percent, and he’s 9.8 percent over the course of his career. On top of that, he just finished a superb All-Star Weekend performance with five goals and an assist in two games.
With 14 points on the man advantage already this season, Larkin is only one point away from tieing his career-high in power play points. If the Red Wings’ power play catches fire there is potential for even more as Larkin’s PPIPP is only 58.3 percent. His highest is 63 percent over the course of his career. If he continues to play with Raymond on the power play, he could ride Raymond’s rising star to finish the year with 25-plus power play points. All of this certainly helps his case to sign the largest contract that he and his camp feel he is worth.
These three players should be on everyone’s radar to see where the rest of their season goes. I’m optimistic about all three, even though I don’t think Larkin will match the career high he is presently on pace for. Raymond, Walman, and Larkin have all had great first halves in one way or another, and all three should finish the 2022-23 season similarly to how they started.