Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider still haven’t signed extensions: Is it time to panic?

September is just days away, which means the 2024–25 hockey season is nearly here.

The Detroit Red Wings were busy this summer, re-signing Patrick Kane to a one-year deal before the official start of free agency. Once July 1 hit, they signed defensemen William Lagesson and Erik Gustafsson, goalies Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell and re-signed forward Christian Fischer.

Two days later, on July 3, they signed Vladimir Tarasenko and traded forward Robby Fabbri to Anaheim for a 2025 conditional fourth-round pick and Gage Alexander.

It appears Steve Yzerman is trying to tinker with the roster to get this team over the hump and into the postseason, where the Red Wings haven’t been since the 2015–16 season.

However, two of the biggest keys to making Detroit a playoff team, forward Lucas Raymond and defenseman Moritz Seider, still haven’t signed extensions and remain restricted free agents.

The Red Wings have about $17.6 million in cap space this offseason, according to Puck Pedia, so they have some wiggle room to get both players signed. They also have to sign restricted free agent forward Jonatan Berggren. Yzmeran may be trying to get Berggren signed first to determine how much space he’ll have left for Raymond and Seider.

We know Yzerman is very meticulous about his big-name signings, so far only signing captain Dylan Larkin to a deal longer than five years as general manager of the Red Wings.

So when free agency began and there was no Raymond and Seider news, I wasn’t too worried about it.

Then when Aug. 1 hit and there was still no news, I started to get a little more worried. But with 45-ish days until training camp, I realized there still was a lot of time left to get a deal done.

However, David Pagnotta, editor-in-chief of The Fourth Period, broke some interesting news regarding Raymond on Monday that is making me concerned.

First off, reading that Raymond and the Red Wings are “not close” doesn’t instill a lot of confidence, but it is good to see him omit Seider from that phrasing.

Knowing Yzerman — and for that matter, knowing how general managers lately have been locking up their young stars to max-term deals — it wouldn’t surprise me if term is the disagreement between Yzerman and Raymond.

Yzerman probably wants to sign Raymond to an eight-year deal, whereas Raymond probably wants a shorter three-to-four-year bridge deal.

If Yzerman gets the long-term deal, he doesn’t have to worry about signing Raymond until he is 30 years old, which is when we’ll start to see his production decline and he won’t be able to ask for more money.

Raymond, on the other hand, hoping to improve on his first three NHL seasons, is betting on himself and wants to cash in on that increased production in three to four years and sign another deal when he is 25 or 26 years old.

As a Red Wings fan, you’re hoping to get Raymond signed long term so his raise doesn’t take money away from future unrestricted and restricted free agents.

But also as a Raymond fan, you know he deserves to be paid, and you want him to be happy with his salary while with Detroit, even if that means a raise in three to four years.

Seider, on the other hand, is a different story. As a defenseman, he most likely will only get incrementally better in the next three to four years, so Yzerman probably is more willing to give the German a bridge deal.

His raise between deals likely would be minuscule, whereas Raymond could get a large raise between deals if he turns into a perennial 30-goal scorer.

Of course, the goal for Yzerman probably is long-term deals for both, as both will make up the core of the Red Wings for the foreseeable future and would give the general manager cap flexibility down the road.

With Red Wings training camp scheduled for Sept. 19–22, both parties certainly are taking it down to the wire.

Raymond and Seider could conceivably sign their deals after training camp has started, but they will miss valuable practices and possibly preseason games, so it’s not an ideal situation.

Missed time during training camp means it’ll take each of them that much longer to get back into game shape and be ready for the start of the regular season.

While I’m certainly more concerned than I was July 1, I’m not in full-on panic mode yet.

These are important contracts for Yzerman, and ensuring the team is set up for the present as well as the future is not something to rush into.

Plus, it’s very common to hear two sides are far apart on a deal, and then the next day, they come to terms.

Sometimes, it’s just a matter of one side giving in when they wouldn’t have earlier in the negotiations.

However, if neither free agent is re-signed by the start of training camp, then we’ve got an alarming situation on our hands.

Follow me on X/Twitter for more Red Wings insights and analysis.