Red Wings provide crucial Lucas Raymond update

The bad news is that the Detroit Red Wings have been without the services of sophomore top line forward Lucas Raymond, who suffered an injury after a collision with teammate Ben Chiarot in practice earlier this month; he's missed the last seven consecutive games.

However, the good news is that Detroit has pushed themselves into a Wild Card postseason spot thanks to a recent stretch of scoring hot play on the ice, having won 10 of their last 14 games including a 4-1 road trip.

He's been practicing with the team and the thought is that he may be able to play tomorrow when the Red Wings host the divisional rival Tampa Bay Lightning, though nothing is yet set in stone. 

"It's day to day right now," Raymond said. "It's been going good, moving in the right direction."

Meanwhile, it's certainly unusual for Raymond to be sitting rather than playing, as this stretch of missed play is the first that he's missed in his NHL career. 

"(It's) nerve-wracking, to be honest," Raymond said. "I've never been out before, so it's a little different experience. It's a lot of nerves sitting there knowing you can't control anything. But the boys have been playing amazing, so that has made it a lot easier."

"I saw some from up top. It's a little different watching from up top, all of a sudden you see everything. I wish I had that vision."

According to head coach Derek Lalonde, Raymond has taken a "step in the right direction", but declined to answer whether or not he'll be available against the Lightning.

"He had a good skate," Lalonde said. "I don't know if he'll be ready for [Saturday], but a step in the right direction. The goal was to get him a full practice, fully involved, contact, and he did that. Hopefully, we'll have him available."

The Red Wings and Lightning will play tomorrow at Little Caesars Arena at 8:00 PM EST.