Red Wings sign former first-round pick to seven-year contract

The Detroit Red Wings have signed star defender Moritz Seider to a seven-year, $59.85M contract, per Sportsnet. The deal will carry an annual cap hit of $8.55M.

With this deal, Detroit has finally signed all of its remaining restricted free agents after signing forwards Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6M contract and Jonatan Berggren to a one-year, $825K deal.

Seider stood as the most imposing of the trio needing a new deal. He’s been Detroit’s clear-cut No. 1 defender since he stepped into the NHL in 2021-22. He won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie that season after posting 50 points and averaging 23 minutes of ice time through all 82 games. 

Seider hasn’t missed a game since, recording 42 points in each of the last two seasons and continuing to average the most ice time of any Red Wings defenders. Still just 23, Seider has become an all-situations player for Wings coach Derek Lalonde — and has even started supporting linemates of his own, spending most of last season with Jake Walman or Ben Chiarot.

It’s been a long climb for Seider, who was originally a shocking choice at sixth overall in the prolific 2019 NHL Draft. He’s since played in the fourth-most NHL games (246) of the class, a full 82 games more than any other defender from the class. 

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has since leaned into the brazen European drafting, taking one European in each of the last five first rounds — ultimately landing Lucas Raymond, Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper, Axel Sandin-Pellika and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard.

Critiques have questioned whether Seider’s impact is as big as the role he’s been awarded in Detroit, but there’s no arguing that the young star stands as the sole beacon of the Red Wings blue line. 

With Walman getting traded to San Jose, Seider now stands as Detroit’s only NHL defender under the age of 30 — joined by veterans who don’t command much acclaim, including Olli Maatta, Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson. That could change if top prospect Simon Edvinsson makes the Detroit lineup out of training camp, though that possibility remains up in the air. 

The Red Wings are thus locking up a core piece of their future in signing Seider long-term, giving Detroit a secure No. 1 to build its lineup around.