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Mo Brings The Mojo - Feb. 4 2022 - Vol. 75 Issue 11 - Matt Larkin
THE HOCKEY NEWS’ 2019 Draft Preview rated Seider 22nd in his class, well below projected stars such as Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko but also behind half a dozen players who still don’t take regular shifts in the NHL today. The scouting report complimented Seider’s 6-foot-4 frame and big shot but described him as an “intriguing but raw prospect” and qualified his strong play with Mannheim of the DEL with, “The German League is not the best league in Europe, but…”
Perhaps it was the German factor obscuring Seider’s top-prospect status. At the time, his nation had produced just 15 NHL defensemen, and only three had made sizable impacts: puck-mover Christian Ehrhoff, whom Seider looked up to; rugged Stanley Cup winner Dennis Seidenberg; and Uwe Krupp, who scored the Cup-clinching goal in overtime for the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. Seider also didn’t come from a rich bloodline of athletes. His parents ran a home for the elderly before quitting to move to Mannheim to support their son’s hockey dream when he was 13.
But the new Yzerman regime saw something in Seider anyway, and not just because he’d won DEL rookie of the year in 2018-19. They identified a caliber of two-way hockey sense that’s tough to teach. The Wings had a history of hitting home runs at the draft when going off the board, having selected seven-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom 53rd overall in 1989, a pick they settled on because of his preternatural hockey sense. Yzerman, Lidstrom’s longtime teammate, was transferring that logic to pick Seider, a kid who grew up watching Lidstrom’s games “every single night,” as Seider puts it.
To get drafted far earlier than expected and attract immediate Lidstrom comparisons could leave most teenagers trembling, but Seider viewed the surprise of going sixth overall as a positive. “Honestly, it was a shock for me, too,” he said. “Other than that, I was super proud being selected by an Original Six team, especially the Wings, with all the history, and from that moment, my life changed. My confidence grew, definitely. But I was not worried about the number that was in front of that pick. I wanted to make sure I made the team as soon as possible and had a good impact.”
No kidding. The way Seider played in the months following the selection, when he came to North America to play for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, he rapidly transformed from reach to steal. Shawn Horcoff, the Red Wings’ director of player development, explains that the team staff working on the North American side hadn’t seen much of Seider before he came over. He and coach Jeff Blashill refer to Seider’s Adler Mannheim stint as when he “played in the men’s league,” which almost makes it sound like a beer league. They were taken with his character and charismatic personality upon meeting him but didn’t yet understand how much potential Seider possessed.
I was super proud being selected by an Original Six team, especially the Wings, with all the history, and from that moment, my life changed
- – Moritz Seider
As Blashill remembers it, some of the rawness was as advertised in the early going as Seider learned how to make quicker decisions with the puck. But any doubts about his ceiling disappeared quickly. Horcoff began to envision the type of all-situations defender who could play 25-plus minutes a night. “It was apparent early the kind of tools that he had and the ability to play all aspects of the game,” Horcoff said. “So, as a development staff, it was pretty clear to us, ‘This kid’s got a chance,’ a guy that can impact an NHL hockey game at all levels.”
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Seider could hit. He could shoot. He could make a strong first pass. He skated very well for a big man. He shot right-handed. He showed leadership qualities. It wasn’t long before he became the Griffins’ top defenseman, and he captained Germany at the World Junior Championship in 2020, too.
By spring 2020, in The Hockey News’ Future Watch, a panel of active NHL scouts and executives graded Seider as the No. 6 NHL-affiliated prospect in the game, second only to Colorado’s Bowen Byram among blueliners. The perception changed from “Yzerman reached” to “Yzerman’s done it,” and with the shift came calls for Seider to jump to the NHL. Would he join Detroit’s blueline by 2020-21, or would the long-term tank mission withhold him?
The decision was taken out of Detroit’s hands when COVID-19 delayed the start of the 2020-21 AHL and NHL seasons. The Wings didn’t want to waste crucial development time bouncing Seider between the AHL, NHL and taxi squad, so they sent him to Rogle of the Swedish League. “It was really important to Steve Yzerman, as it should have been, that Moritz was playing and developing at such a young age,” Blashill said. “And the decision was made for him to go to Sweden and, once he did, that he was going to be there for the year. Could he have played (in the NHL)? Yeah, he could have played, but none of us thought that was the best thing for him. You need to make sure you’re doing what's best for these prospects and make sure they’re in situations where they can thrive and not just survive.”
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Seider did just that, dominating the SHL and winning defenseman of the year. Working in his favor that season was his attitude. He never viewed the Swedish assignment as an insult. He’s an optimist. Horcoff describes him as a happy guy with a contagious smile. As Blashill puts it, “You know when you’re in the room with him.”
He’s a thoughtful, social person who says his favorite thing to do outside hockey is “sit downtown in Mannheim and have a coffee with my friends, and we usually just chill there all afternoon and talk. Sometimes serious topics, sometimes not the best topics, but also some fun stuff.” He was perceptive enough to know a year in the SHL would help him. “Being patient is a big strength of mine, and I just needed time first, to grow as a hockey player, to be more mature on and off the ice and develop a more complete game at both ends of the ice.”
By 2021-22 training camp, there was virtually no doubt Seider, 20, would march right to the NHL. He did, and he won rookie of the month for October. By late January, he easily led rookie blueliners in scoring while averaging 22:30 of ice time, almost two minutes more than the closest rookie defensemen. He easily held the best shot-attempt share in 5-on-5 play among Red Wings D-men. As he develops confidence and joins the rush more, his offensive play has been slightly superior to his defensive play, but it’s coming around. “That balance of when to jump in the play, when to be the guy joining and when to be the guy not necessarily leading the rush is something we’ve worked on with him,” Blashill said. “But Moritz has a real good inner confidence to him. He’s got great self-belief that way. He’s able to handle coaching. It doesn’t affect him in a negative manner. He takes the information in, and he does what he thinks is best when he goes on the ice, and that’s what the best players do.”
The best players also lead, and Seider will do that – his own way. Teammates will follow him, but they’ll laugh along the way. The young man loves to dance. It’s somewhat of a trademark. And he does it with a purpose. “Whatever our DJ plays, I’ll vibe with, and I just want to make sure I feel good, get loose, don’t have any pressure,” he said. “If that transfers to the other guys and they feel good, even better. I wouldn’t say I have a strong voice, but I just try to make sure everyone is feeling good and get the most out of their game. If it’s just telling a joke or making someone laugh, that’s a great thing, too. I’m not running around and screaming in the locker room. I just try to lead by example on the ice and hope the guys will follow.”
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