The Detroit Red Wings on Thursday locked up their franchise defenseman, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth just under $60 million.
Seider’s $8.55 million average annual value comes in slightly lower than captain Dylan Larkin’s $8.7 million AAV on the eight-year pact he inked in March 2023.
Seider, 23, has been by far their best defenseman in three NHL seasons — during which time he hasn’t missed a game, appearing in all 246 – and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. He logs the most minutes, always against the opposition’s best, and plays in all situations. He won the Calder Trophy in 2022 as the NHL’s top rookie.
Seider missed the first day of training camp Thursday in Traverse City, but teammates, naturally, were excited that he signed.
“Some great news the past few days with (Lucas Raymond signing and then Mo signing, so I think everyone’s kind of relieved that that’s done and over with,” Patrick Kane said. “Both of them are so deserving of their new contracts. Both of them work so hard. They want to be Red Wings. They want to do well for the city and for the organization. So happy for both those guys and for the team as well.”
Kane added, “Mo’s such a good defender, great defenseman. He’s so important playing against top lines every night. Obviously, he’s got a lot of offensive weapons as well, can be dynamic on the power play, can produce offensively from the back end, which is huge.”
Seider, following the season, described his year as “all right,” after tallying nine goals and 33 assists.
“I think there’s always more,” he said. “Other than that, I think I’m really happy, though. I think there’s a lot more to my game that’s going to be growing these next few years. Obviously just want to take another step for next season.”
In three seasons, Seider has 21 goals and 113 assists.
As for areas of improvement, he said, “I think moving the puck up ice, reading the play, don’t be too physical sometimes. Sometimes I think it’s easier to just have a good stick on someone rather than throw a hit. Those are little things that I think are easy to maneuver throughout next year.”
He will continue relishing playing against the best competition.
“It’s a cool challenge. I take a lot of pride in that,” Seider said. “Obviously, it’s hard and mistakes are going to happen. I think I’m even more ready for next year already. You just kind of create a data bank against every top line in the league. You know what their tendencies are. It’s definitely a lot of fun being out there in important situations, playing big minutes for this organization.”
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