Red Wings Raymond a Voracious Reader

Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond was drawing high praise for his Olympic performance with Sweden. However, all he was feeling was a hopeless emptiness after the Swedes were eliminated from the tournament on Wednesday.

“It doesn’t feel good at all,” Raymond told Swedish website Expressen following a 2-1 quarterfinal overtime loss to the USA. “We have many people on this team who have put in a huge amount of time and effort to get us far, and we don’t have that opportunity now.

“It just feels empty.”

Raymond led all Swedish scorers with 2 goals and 7 assists in five games. It was his sweet pass that set up Mika Zibanejad for Sweden’s only goal on Wednesday.

Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond (0-3—3) became the first skater for Team Sweden to post three points in consecutive #WinterOlympic games with NHL participation and helped his country advance into the quarterfinals at #MilanoCortina2026.#NHLStats: https://t.co/zTDkQzi9MU pic.twitter.com/OsUjFfvsWG

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) February 17, 2026

“What a pass,” former Swedish NHL star Håkan Loob said during the HBO Max broadcast. “What a performance by Lucas Raymond.”

Red Wings Raymond Will Book His Flight Home

Raymond won’t have to rush back to Detroit now that his Olympic dream has ended.

“We’ll give them some time,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “They’ve adapted now to a different time zone. They need a bit of rest as far as that goes. They haven’t had any time off.”

When Raymond does book his long flight back to North America, that’s exactly how he’ll pass the time on the plane.

With books.

Raymond has become a voracious reader.

Lucas Raymond matched the Team Sweden record for longest assist streak at a #WinterOlympics with NHL players (4 GP), a distinction he now shares with Nicklas Backstrom (2010) and Nicklas Lidstrom (2002). #MilanoCorina2026 #NHLStats: https://t.co/zTDkQziHCs https://t.co/lNoB5t6yES

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) February 17, 2026

“I started reading last year,” Raymond said, according to reporting from Expressen. “Got a Kindle. I really like it.”

He says that books are a big part of the lives of many Red Wings players.

“There are a lot of people on the team who read now,” Raymond said. “I read all the Harry Potter books last year. It took the whole season.”

This season, Raymond has upped his reading game to another level.

“Right now I’m reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Raymond said. “It’s a little different.”

Even though the book’s author is fellow Swede Stieg Larsson, Raymond is opting to read the English version of the novel.

“Yep,” Raymond said. “You have to expand your vocabulary a bit.”