Raymond isn’t in Seider’s Shadow: It’s like Trammell-Whitaker

Lucas Raymond now knows how Alan Trammell felt in 1978.

In 1978,  Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker batted .285 and won AL Rookie of the Year honors. His teammate, shortstop Trammell, hit .268 and finished fourth in the balloting. Trammell and Whitaker were close friends.

Forty-four years later, Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider won the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year and his teammate and close friend Lucas Raymond finished fourth. Seider and Raymond lived together this past season. He was clearly happy for his buddy.

“Congrats, Mo — very well-deserved.” Raymond said in a video published on the Red Wings’ twitter feed.

Seider was the betting favorite to win the Calder Trophy at Michigan Sportsbooks.

In other years, Raymond’s 23-goal, 57-point season may have been enough to earn him the Calder.

Raymond, 20, and Seider, 21, were both named to the NHL all-rookie team. It was the 17th time rookies from the same NHL team were named to the All-Rookie team. The only other time two Red Wings were on the same all-rookie team was 1991-92 when Nicklas Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov were the NHL All-Rookie Team defensemen.

Howard Was All-Rookie Selection

The last Red Wing before this season to make the All-Rookie Team was goalie Jimmy Howard in 2009-10.

Seider received 196 points in balloting for All-Rookie Team defenseman, while Raymond showed 134 points. in voting for forwards. Alex Nedeljkovic showed three points in voting for goaltenders.  Seider was first among defensemen, while Raymond was third among forwards. Nedeljkovic was second among goalies.

Raymond was fourth in the Rookie balloting behind Seider, Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras and Toronto’s Michael Bunting. Seider posted 1,853 points, followed by Zegras (1,191), Bunting (877) and Raymond (499).

Raymond’s named appeared on 75.8% of all the ballots cast for the rookie of the year. He even received one first-place vote. Raymond had 10 second-place, 40 third-place, 61 fourth-place and 36 fifth-place votes.

Detroit sports fans have seen their share of rookie teammates grabbing the spotlight together. Older fans may recall that rookie Mel Farr was one of the NFL’s most dynamic halfbacks in 1967 and rookie cornerback Lem Barney ran back three interceptions for touchdowns

Farr was the Associated Press offensive Rookie of the Year and Barney was defensive rookie of the year.

But the comparisons the Red Wings may like best are Whitaker and Trammell, or Lidstrom and Konstantinov, or even John Salley and Dennis Rodman (1986-87 Detroit Pistons)  Those players started together as rookies and then eventually helped their teams win championships.

And the Red Wings wouldn’t mind the Trammell comparison for Raymond either because he went on to earn Hall of Fame recognition.