Red Wings’ newly recruited Seider has room for improvement

DETROIT – A happy and relieved Moritz Seider joined his teammates at practice Tuesday and promised the best was yet to come, five days after signing a long-term contract that makes him among the NHL’s highest-paid defensemen.

“I’m really proud of the organization, to be able to do it with them,” Seider said. “Back with the boys, I think they smiled a lot today.”

Seider, 23, signed for seven years at an average annual value of $8.55 million.

He missed four days of ice time in Traverse City, but he figures he’ll be up and running quickly in practices and preseason games, though that likely won’t be the case for Wednesday’s opener in Chicago (8 p.m., no TV).

Coach Derek Lalonde said Seider, paired with Ben Chiarot, brought the same energy and intensity to practice as he usually does.

“Obviously I’m really excited, really enthusiastic and ready to get started,” Seider said.

Seider was one of the team’s most important players during his three seasons. He appeared in 246 games, played more minutes than anyone else, played on both specialty teams and was always up there with the best lines.

He believes there is still plenty of room for growth.

“I’m maturing,” Seider said. “I think it’s about taking the next step now, being consistent, trying to eliminate as many bad nights as possible. And then trying to contribute even more on both ends. Hopefully the offense can improve a little bit more, too, and just working on specialty teams will play a big part. Trying to get both teams in the top 10, I think everybody will get a lot of credit for that.”

Lalonde is looking for internal development at Seider.

“His defensive game can continue to improve,” Lalonde said. “Even with him, he’s had some hiccups in his game. I think he can improve his skating, which is very exciting. I think he’s still very young. I think he’s got a lot of room to grow.”

Lalonde has no plans to reduce Seider’s minutes against top opponents.

“I don’t foresee that changing with our level of team, their value, their ability to handle the best lines,” Lalonde said. “Part of our continued growth in points and wins over the last couple of years, the reason we’re going in the right direction, is because of that aspect of the game and our ability to handle matchups.”

Seider’s first contract after his entry-level deal makes him the team’s second-highest-paid player, slightly below Dylan Larkin’s $8.7 million. But that won’t add more pressure on him.

“I want to be good every night,” Seider said. “It shouldn’t be about the salary.”

He added: “I think there’s a lot of people who thought I was an overly ambitious prospect (when I was drafted sixth overall in 2019), and I had the opportunity to prove them wrong, and there’s other guys who think this contract is not good, so I’m ready to prove them wrong again.”

Seider celebrated by taking his parents, his agent and his agent’s family to dinner in Germany before flying to Detroit. He and friend Lucas Raymond, who signed an eight-year, $8.075 million contract a few days earlier, will be sure to treat themselves to a team dinner on an early-season road trip.

“It’s great to be able to give back now,” Seider said. “The team has helped us a lot to get to this point and obviously we’re looking forward to getting back on the road, playing at home, playing in front of our fans again and I think we’re going to have a great time.”

“I’m really happy to have been wearing this jersey for a very long time now.”