Seider for Calder, state of the Sabres, and top-performing acquisitions

To fully grasp Moritz Seider's brilliance - and thus understand his Calder Trophy candidacy - it's best to follow a three-step evaluation process.

Step 1: Review the basic statistics

Seider, who turned 21 earlier this month, averages 23:09 of ice time per game to lead all Detroit Red Wings skaters - 18:18 at even strength, 2:56 on the power play, and 1:55 shorthanded. Both the high TOI and all-situations usage are notable. They indicate Wings head coach Jeff Blashill trusts the blue-liner.

In 74 games, Seider has accumulated six goals and 41 assists - 20 primary, 21 secondary - for 47 points. Among all rookies, he ranks first in assists by four; among rookie defensemen, he ranks first in points by a whopping 16. The native of Zell, Germany, has showcased serious offensive punch.

Step 2: Study the game tape

Seider is a physical specimen. He's listed at 6-foot-4 and 197 pounds, though he may as well be 6-foot-9, 250 pounds (i.e. Zdeno Chara) based on the way he tosses bodies around the rink. And his hits tend to serve a purpose, whether it be protecting the puck or knocking the opposition off of it. He rarely takes himself out of position to issue a check.

Heck, of Seider's 129 hits - the second-most on the Wings - at least a handful can be categorized as "reverse hits." He's extremely stable on his skates.

Seider has racked up 30 penalty minutes. That may seem like a decent amount, but he's also rocking a plus-five penalty differential, inducing 20 minors while taking 15 of his own. The gap in calls can be attributed to his fantastic positioning, which is powered by smooth skating and a careful stick.

Blashill says young players often fall into the trap of trying to please the coaching staff. This can lead to bonehead mistakes and a loss of confidence. One of Seider's many redeeming qualities is that he doesn't overthink things.

"Great players go out there and do what they think is right. He's already doing that at a young age," Blashill told theScore earlier this season. "It doesn't mean he's not coachable. He's very coachable. But he doesn't play in a way where he's afraid of what the coaches want and don't want from him. He does what he thinks is right in every situation. His instincts are really, really good."

Step 3: Contextualize the stats and video

What takes Seider's Calder candidacy to a tier above the other elite rookies, such as Lucas Raymond, Trevor Zegras, Michael Bunting, and Tanner Jeannot, is the environmental factors.

First of all, the Wings are rebuilding. Seider doesn't have a ton of help in general, yet he's been an incredible asset. Secondly, he's carried all four of his defense partners. Danny DeKeyser (571 five-on-five minutes with Seider), Jordan Oesterle (306), Nick Leddy (253), and Marc Staal (91) have all benefited greatly from him, not the other way around.

Then there's this incredible stat: Of the 26 skaters who've logged at least 100 five-on-five minutes for Detroit this season, only three have a positive on-ice goal differential. It's Tyler Bertuzzi (plus-3), Seider (plus-2), and Staal (plus-1).

Additionally, Seider's 10 most common forward opponents at five-on-five include Auston Matthews, Bunting, Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner, Jake DeBrusk, Mika Zibanejad, Cam Atkinson, Nikita Kucherov, Oskar Lindblom, and Brayden Point. No shifts off for No. 53 in red and white, who, by the way, leads the Wings in blocked shots with 149.

"He doesn't wait for the game to come to him," Detroit forward Sam Gagner, a 15-year pro, said. "You look at some of the veteran players in this league that he's standing up to, and he's just not afraid to go at them. And he wants the puck on his stick. He wants to be a difference-maker. I think that's huge for us. The way he's played, it's changed our team and changed the dynamic."

Seider is my pick for the Calder. The rest of my ballot will be the tricky part.

State of the Sabres

For the first time in a long time, there's optimism in Sabres land.

Sure, after Thursday's loss to the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo is 27-38-11. Yes, the Sabres will miss the playoffs for an NHL-record 11th straight season. Yet the 25-and-younger core of Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, Peyton Krebs, Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, and Owen Power has Western New Yorkers feeling hopeful.

Tuch, who grew up about 150 miles east of Buffalo in Syracuse, is the local guy. In March, I asked him what - aside from the obvious - excites him about being a Sabre. He offered a poignant response that Sabres supporters ate up.

"Potential. Honestly, it's not just potential on the ice," said Tuch, who was acquired from Vegas in November in the Jack Eichel trade. "I've already seen the camaraderie in our room. We love being around each other."

He added: "But also the potential with the fan base and, I guess, the whole city of Buffalo, really. We've seen it as of late. (The city) really has our backs and is really starting to get back into that all-in mentality because they've really seen how hard we've been working lately. Buffalo's a blue-collar city, and we're a blue-collar team. So, we want to keep showing them that we're going to be a fun team to support in the future."

The Sabres' top picks in the 2020 draft, forwards Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, have dominated the AHL this season. Quinn, who's bagged 25 goals in 38 games, is ready to make the jump next year.

Here's what coach Don Granato's top nine could look like in the fall:

• Line 1: Thompson between Tuch and Jeff Skinner
• Line 2: Cozens between Quinn and Rasmus Asplund
• Line 3: Krebs between Kyle Okposo and Peterka or Victor Olofsson

If management can find a goalie via trade or free agency while adding a few role players to the forward and defense corps, the 2022-23 Sabres could actually be respectable - not quite ready to contend for a playoff spot, but not far off.

Despite all of this potential, there's a famous saying lurking: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." How many times have the Sabres fooled their supporters over the past 11 seasons? Three? Four?

As a former NHL head coach put it to me a few years ago: "Everybody has pieces." The coach was talking about the Ottawa Senators' rebuild, but his point - that you can find potential on all 32 NHL depth charts - relates to the Sabres, too.

Buffalo sports fans are smart, so let's be a little more precise. What we're seeing is likely reason for cautious optimism. It's still better than pessimism.

Top-performing acquisitions

It's been only three-and-a-half weeks, but we're starting to see a few of the bigger trade deadline bets pay dividends in the leadup to the postseason.

In goal, Marc-Andre Fleury has endeared himself to the Minnesota Wild faithful by posting a .929 save percentage through six starts. Last week's 6-2 loss to Nashville was a stinker, but the affable Fleury - who's expectedly a hit in the Wild dressing room - rebounded with 31 saves against Los Angeles and 34 against Dallas. The question is, who starts the first game of the playoffs - Fleury or Cam Talbot? It appears the Wild have yet to pick a No. 1 guy.

Dallas Stars netminder Scott Wedgewood, who's won three of his first five starts since coming over from Arizona, has also been sharp. The 29-year-old journeyman's surroundings have improved drastically, and a playoff race will motivate any NHLer, but Wedgewood deserves props for his strong play.

On defense, Hampus Lindholm has been exactly what the Bruins needed when they acquired him from the Anaheim Ducks (and then signed him to an eight-year extension). Lindholm, who's missed the last four games due to injury but is expected back in the lineup sooner than later, has skated mainly on Boston's first pairing, excelling alongside Charlie McAvoy.

With Lindholm on the ice at five-on-five, the Bruins have popped in eight goals while allowing five. The team's expected goals share is an impressive 63% in those 113 minutes spread across seven games. Lindholm's been thrown into the fire on special teams, too, logging a total of 21:45 a night.

Meanwhile, Claude Giroux and the Florida Panthers have been a perfect fit. His 1.09 points per game (12 in 11 contests) is tied with Ottawa Senators winger Mathieu Joseph for the second-highest rate among skaters traded ahead of the deadline (Andrew Copp is first at 1.23). The Panthers are 10-1-0 since Giroux arrived in Sunrise on March 21, with MVP candidate Jonathan Huberdeau, center Sam Bennett, and the former Philadelphia Flyers captain routinely terrorizing opposing defenses as a trio.

Parting thoughts

Phil Kessel: Thursday marked 974 consecutive games played for the Coyotes winger. If Kessel remains healthy down the stretch, he'll enter the offseason at 982 straight appearances. That's seven shy of Keith Yandle's all-time tally of 989 and 18 away from 1,000. Remarkable stuff from the enigmatic Kessel. Ex-teammate James van Riemsdyk's recent remarks cracked me up:

Ryan Hartman: I believe the Wild forward deserved supplemental discipline for flashing the middle finger at Evander Kane of the Edmonton Oilers earlier this week. Hartman crossed the line, and the $4,250 fine seemed appropriate. Still, what an amusing scene. It's rare we see a player flip the bird in the heat of the moment. (NHLers, they're just like us!) The best part of the whole saga: a bunch of Wild fans - and apparently Kane's ex-wife - wired Hartman money through Venmo to cover the fine. The internet can be great sometimes.

The Assist kit: Kodette LaBarbera, wife of former NHL goalie Jason LaBarbera, and Paige Dowd, wife of Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd, have created a sensory kit for kids with autism. The goal of the initiative: lessen the anxiety that comes with attending hockey games. The kits include a drawstring backpack, foam puck, headphones, fidget toys, sunglasses, crayons and activity sheets, sanitizing wipes, and Kleenex. Here's Jason, now the goalie coach for the Calgary Flames, on his son Ryder.

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).