It goes without saying that Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond's exclusion from NHL.com's recent list of the best 10 players aged 25 or younger was at best a bizarre oversight, and at worst, a blatant snub.
It was especially ironic since Raymond literally outscored all 10 players who made the list.
Nevertheless, the Red Wings know that they have a budding star in the making with Raymond, who was their Round 1 selection in the 2020 NHL Draft after they somehow fell back multiple spots despite having posted the NHL's worst record by a wide margin in the difficult 2019-20 season.
Not only did Raymond amass a new career-high in points with 80 this past season, but he's also very close to joining a select list of his own in Red Wings lore.
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Raymond, who is only two goals away from 100 in his career, will soon become the 10th player in Red Wings history to reach the century mark in goals scored before turning 24 years of age.
Lucas Raymond has led the @DetroitRedWings in points throughout each of the past two seasons, which included a career-high 80 points in 2024-25. #NHLYoungStarsWeek highlights the 23-year-old who sits within striking distance of 100 career goals this season. #NHLStatspic.twitter.com/eqPGysN7vL
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) July 19, 2025
The most recent player in this current era of Red Wings hockey to achieve the feat is Dylan Larkin, who did so during the aforementioned 2019-20 campaign.
Other names on the list include Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne, Ted Lindsay, Dale McCourt, John Ogrodnick, and Petr Klima.
Talk about some pretty incredible company in Red Wings history that Raymond will soon join, including five who are forever enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and in the case of Howe, Lindsay, Klima, in the hearts of Detroit fans everywhere as they are no longer with us.
Raymond is preparing to play the second year of his eight-year contract that he inked with Detroit last September, a nearly identical pact to that of teammate Moritz Seider, who was also a rookie that entered the NHL in the 2021-22 campaign.
If he continues trending upward, 80 points may soon only seem like child's play for Raymond.
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