Moritz Seider’s blind backhand cross-ice pass on the power play was picked off, leading to a breakaway Saturday for Toronto’s Pierre Engvall.
It was a learning experience for the 20-year-old defenseman, and one of the rare mistakes he has made early in his NHL career.
A minute later, Seider assisted on Filip Zadina’s power-play goal, his eighth assist in nine games. That is more than any rookie Detroit Red Wings defenseman has accumulated after nine games, one more than Nicklas Lidstrom.
There was little question coming into the season that Seider, the sixth overall pick in 2019, was NHL-ready. Only three weeks into his NHL career, the 6-4, 207-pound defenseman ranks second on the team in average ice time (22:25), playing in all situations, and is tied for third in points (eight).
Seider is second in scoring among NHL rookies to teammate Lucas Raymond (nine points).
“He’s a really good talent, there’s no doubt,” coach Jeff Blashill said following the 5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs. “I don’t want him to be a good talent. I want him to be a great player and you can’t give up a breakaway on a power play that’s unforced. He knows that. But he did lots of other good things. And that’s what he does.
“You’re always going to make mistakes. It’s just the reality of hockey. But you want to minimize those unforced errors, those plays that don’t need to happen, and maximize his positive plays.”
The Red Wings (4-3-2) are getting many positive plays from rookies. In addition to Seider and Raymond, Joe Veleno scored a goal and assisted on another in his Red Wings season debut Saturday, after being recalled from Grand Rapids.
“I think it’s important for guys to push and show that they can be impact players,” Blashill said. “I thought Joe in the third (period) was impactful. It’s an every-day league and the next opportunity he gets, he’s going to have to do a real good job with it. But certainly, the way he played in the third gives a coach confidence to put him out there.”
Veleno was disappointed not to start the season in Detroit with Raymond and Seider but praised his fellow rookies.
“They’ve been unbelievable,” Veleno said. “They’re obviously highly skilled players and really talented. I was watching some games on nights I wasn’t playing in GR and they look like they belong out there.”
The Red Wings continue their four-game trip Tuesday at Montreal (2-8-0), the site of their worst performance of the season just nine days ago in a 6-1 loss.
Two other first-round picks, Zadina (goal, assist) and Michael Rasmussen (assist), also contributed on Saturday.
“We got a lot of young guys playing important roles on our team, so they need to play good hockey, because we don’t want to have guys on our team that are young and are playing and we’re losing,” Blashill said. “We want guys that are going to help us win hockey games, whether they’re young or old.”
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