It's been another long season for the Red Wings, one that will come to a merciful end next Friday. But the team has found a little life down the stretch, led by its top three rookies (and Jakub Vrana): Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Alex Nedeljkovic.
Seider feels like a lock to win Rookie of the Year. Raymond, almost assuredly, will be a fellow finalist. Both of them have injected much-needed talent into Detroit's lineup. And Nedeljkovic, while fighting through an up-and-down season under a larger-than-expected workload, has shown flashes of the talent that made him a Calder finalist last season.
All three of them could enter some rarefied franchise air in the Wings' final five games, starting Thursday night against the Panthers.
With a goal in Detroit's 4-3 win over the Lightning on Tuesday, Raymond brought his season total to 23. With one more, he'll have the most by a Red Wings rookie since ... Sergei Fedorov scored 31 in 1990-91. And with four more points, Raymond will be the first Red Wings rookie to hit 60 since ... Nicklas Lidstrom in 1991-92.
With an assist on Tuesday, his 42nd of the season, Seider passed three-time All-Star Reed Larson for second most by a rookie defenseman in franchise history. He won't catch the leader, Nicklas Lidstrom, at 60. But with two more points, Seider will become just the NHL's third rookie defenseman this century to post a 50-point season, joining Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar.
Hughes, it should be noted, was on a playoff team that ranked 8th in the NHL in scoring. Makar was on a playoff team that ranked 4th in the NHL in scoring. The Red Wings are 17 games under .500 and rank 22nd in the NHL in scoring. Seider has thrived, on most nights, in spite of his surroundings.
Nedeljkovic wasn't in net for the Wings on Tuesday, having been hung out to dry two days prior against the Panthers. But he notched his third shutout of the season last week with 46 saves against the Hurricanes, two games after making 47 saves in a win over the Bruins. With one more shutout, Nedeljkovic will have the most by a Red Wings rookie since Calder winner Roger Crozier posted six in ... 1964-65.
No, the second half of the season hasn't gone the way the Wings had hoped. Speaking of history, they will miss the playoffs for the sixth straight year for the first time since the Dead Wings went seven straight years from 1970-71 to 1976-77. These are humbling times for a proud franchise. But there are better times ahead, thanks in large part to a trio of rookies who have breathed life into a dead season.