Why Moritz Seider Deserves the Calder
Trevor Zegras has dominated rookie-related hockey media this season – he’s pulled off beautiful trickshots both in-game and during all-star game festivities, and sits second amongst all rookie skaters in points and fifth in WAR. Though Seider has been firmly in the race all year, as defensemen often do he’s gone under-represented in the media and resultantly has seen less hype than his forward counterparts Zegras and teammate Lucas Raymond. That is, until recently when a video of Seider’s penalty killing of all things, went viral:
Seider makes the most of his impressive tools in this clip. He utilizes his skating to ensure safe distance from the forechecking Flyers, and his size and strength to win an outmanned battle low in the zone. It’s all tied together by his dynamism and evasive movement, which ensure that during the entirety of Seider’s period of puck possession, he only has to win one battle. Despite that, Seider still sits at a relatively distant third place in Calder odds at +500 per Betway, behind Zegras (+150) and Raymond (+225), and above Anton Lundell (+800), Michael Bunting (+1200), and Tanner Jeannot (+1400) as his media exposure relative to his rookie classmates still sits below the mean.
Personally however, I feel that’s unfair. Seider is an electrifying player who’s accrued a lot more highlight reel-worthy plays than just playing keep away for twenty seconds. He’s put opposing players on their asses both with devastating hits, and by shaking them off his back as they pursue him. He’s also already collected more ankles for his collection in half of his rookie season alone than most 6-foot-4 defensemen do over the course of their entire career. Here’s a compilation of some of his best plays so far:
The final clip above is an excellent example of the unheard of elusiveness Seider possesses that simply doesn’t exist in defensemen with his size and strength. Not only is he a fluid skater with good straight-line speed, he’s a dynamic skater who can beat you on the rush 1-on-1 and create his own zone entries. As a rookie, Seider ranks fourth among Detroit defensemen in both zone entries/60 and controlled zone entry percentage with rates of 7.31 and 31% respectively according to Corey Sznajder’s data-tracking. But perhaps a more impressive aspect of Seider’s transition play is his ability to shut down the rush at the defensive blue line. Only six defenders in the entirety of the NHL are more efficient at preventing entry chances against, also per Sznajder’s data:
Seider is excellent at managing his gaps and remaining aware of his surroundings - he often slows down the attacker by staying between them and any passing lanes long enough for the backcheckers to cover said lane before making a move on the attacking player, and consistently forces attackers 1-on-1 towards the wall where he’s able to make a move on them whether with his stick or his body. One skill he makes the most of while defending the rush is the same skill that enables his aforementioned elusiveness at the other end of the rink - Seider is a great lateral skater and can close off an attacker quickly and effectively. He’s also one of just four defenders on the above list with a QoC greater than 29% (29.01%) as per Evolving-Hockey, behind Brett Pesce (29.08%), Ryan Ellis (29.37%), and Miro Heiskanen (29.55%).
Offensively, Seider has some room to improve, but his offensive production and playdriving is still plenty enough to qualify him as a number one defenseman - he’s scored five goals on just under six expected goals, and added 29 assists - 11 of those being primary. That ranks him 34th among defensemen in goals, 22nd in primary assists, and 10th in points (all tied with other players). Seider is part of the modern school of defensemen who have a preference for wristshots and snapshots when possible over aimlessly bombing low-efficiency slapshots from just inside the blueline. He does an excellent job of identifying opportunities where he’s able to skate into pucks at the top of the circles, and is proficient at changing his shooting angle to ensure the puck gets through to the net, while adding misdirection - yet another layer of deception for the goaltender to battle through.
The biggest surprise of Seider’s debut season however has been his incredibly poised transition play. Seider sits at a close second among Red Wings defenders in zone exit efficiency with possession at 78.1% via Corey Sznajder, behind only fellow rookie Gustav Lindstrom (78.9%) who sees significantly more sheltered minutes than Seider. Seider ranks lower in zone entry numbers, though he often defers to his teammates for those anyways.
When transitioning out of his own end, Seider will pivot as he gathers the puck or immediately after gathering it and scan the ice for options - a great habit for a defenseman, and one he hasn’t always had. If there are no options available, he’ll wait for a good one to open up rather than forcing the play and make the pass, long or short. And if all else fails, he can defer to his physical tools, beating defenders with a combination of his four-directional skating ability and his frame and puck protection skills.
Needless to say, Seider has come a long way from the guy who drew Brandon Carlo comparisons from Craig Button on draft night. He’s the rare instance of a player who recognized somewhere along his development path that his raw physical tools needed to be complemented by intelligent hockey plays in order to evolve into the deserving Calder winner through the first 50 games of the 2021-22 season. Seider was drafted a Rhyhorn, has evolved into a Rhydon, but watch out - once he reaches his final form as a fully-fledged Rhyperior - he’s coming for the Norris next.