Red Wings Seider a Punishing Presence

Taking into account all NHLers, only New Jersey Devils center Paul Cotter (21) has delivered more hits so far this season that Seider.

“He lifts our team with being physical, getting down blocks, doing hard hockey against top lines,” Lalonde said of Seider. “And when he’s at his best, it gives us a really good chance.”

Red Wings Seider Hard Core Iron Man

He’s playing a lot, averaging nearly 26 minutes of ice time per night. And those are hard minutes, always coming against the opposition’s best and most dangerous players.

“It’s a cool challenge,” Seider said. “I take a lot of pride in that. I want to be out there.

“Obviously it’s hard and mistakes are gonna happen. It’s natural. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any kind of goals in the NHL.

“It’s definitely a lot of fun being out there in important situations, playing big minutes for this organization.”

Last season, Seider would top the 200 plateau in both hits and blocked shots. He was the first NHLer to do this since Mike Komisarek in 2007-08.

Through it all, he’s never missed a single game since turning in his first NHL performance on October 14, 2021. In total, Seider has played in 249 consecutive NHL games.

“You just want to go out there, be out there,” Seider said. “Play as many minutes as you can. Don’t even think about what could happen next.

“Just trying to stay in every single shift. Trying to be mentally enagaged and then I think everything else will kind of fall into place. If you overthink think the moment, then you may be a second too late, or you will definitely do a mistake out there against the best line.”