Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings has been awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year. Seider is the first Red Wing to win the rookie of the year award since goaltender Roger Crozier won the award in 1965! Michael Bunting of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks were the other two finalists for the award in the 2021-22 NHL season.
MORITZ SEIDER IS THE NHL’S ROOKIE OF THE YEAR! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/9d9oeYTeBv
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 21, 2022
This is a shocking event in the early career of the defenseman from Zell, Germany. Seider is growing accustomed to these kinds of events, the first of which was on the night that he was drafted sixth overall in the 2019 NHL entry draft. The reaction to Seider being drafted so early went viral at the time. He was quoted as saying that he was nervous when his name was called by the general manager of the Red Wings Steve Yzerman. Many did not know what to make of the first draft pick of Yzerman in Detroit.
The 20-year-old finished the 2021-22 season with 7 goals and 43 assists for a total of 50 points. Astonishingly, this is the second-most points scored by a rookie on the Red Wings with Lucas Raymond finishing with 57 points. Bunting had 40 assists for a Maple Leafs team that would make the Stanley Cup playoffs. Detractors of Bunting will point out that the 26-year-old played with a more talented surrounding cast in Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander.
Seider was easily the most dependable defenseman on the Red Wings’ roster during the season. The fact that he is part of the same defensive corps as the likes of Danny DeKeyser and Marc Staal is not the fault of Seider. Seider is already part of the number one defensive pairing for the Red Wings. The issue is that the other pair of this unit is still waiting in the wings on the part of Simon Edvinsson of Onsala, Sweden. Edvinsson has progressed in his development as a young player and will play in North America next season.
