A budding star with the Detroit Red Wings in his fourth NHL season, Lucas Raymond has elevated his game to an entirely different level with Sweden at the Olympics.
Only Canada’s Connor McDavid, widely considered the best hockey player on the planet, and Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovsky, the reigning MVP at the Games from his breakout performance in 2022, have more points.
Raymond has been not just producing but also winning puck battles, and veteran defenseman Victor Hedman said the 23-year-old forward “put this team on his back” at times.
Raymond also had an ill-timed slashing penalty in the waning minutes of the preliminary round finale against Slovakia, which led to a costly goal that dropped Sweden from what would have been a comfortable spot as the third seed all the way to seventh. That means an extra game Tuesday in the qualification playoffs just to get into the quarterfinals Wednesday, and it’s a chance for Raymond to get some retribution and put the Swedes back on track.
“We all saw that penalty in the end,” coach Sam Hallam said. “He has to own it. We support him. We do things together as a team. We learn from it. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be fired up for the next game.”
Raymond has a goal and four assists through three games, which is even better than his point-a-game pace with Detroit.
“He’s a very talented player — very good, very skilled,” Sweden teammate Adrian Kempe said. “He plays hard, and obviously we saw some of that today. He’s been great. He’s one of our best players. When you get to watch him in the NHL, as well, you see what he can do. He’s obviously a young, talented guy and a big (part of the) future for our country.”
While Hedman and captain Gabriel Landeskog may be playing at the Olympics for the final time, Raymond is young enough to envision this being the first of a few, as long as the NHL continues to participate. There’s already an agreement to go when it’s in the French Alps in 2030.
Milan has been a showcase event so far for Raymond.
“I’ve felt better game by game,” Raymond said. “Coming into a tournament, you want to perform. You want to play well for your team, and you want to be a good teammate. I think that’s our entire team’s mindset coming in, and we’re going to keep doing it that way.”
Sweden struggled to get going early in its opener against host Italy, lost to archrival Finland and actually had its best game against Slovakia until Raymond’s slash and Dalibor Dvorsky’s goal cut the margin from three to two, changing the group winner despite a 5-3 victory.
“You never want to put the guys in a spot like that, but it is what it is,” Raymond said. “We’ll move on and get ready for the next game.”
