from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,
General manager Steve Yzerman is rebuilding the Detroit Red Wings with a confident, calculated, patient approach. He’s a model of professionalism. When he speaks about his plan, it’s evident he has a clear-eyed vision of how to build a championship-caliber team. When he took this job, he warned everyone that it was going to take a long time to find success.
But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t sometimes become frustrated that it isn’t going quicker.
“It’s an emotional roller coaster,” he said. “And it’s an emotional roller coaster for our fans. I understand that. Myself included. There are days you walk out of the rink and you’re like ‘I’m real happy with the way things are going.’ The young guys from GR are playing well. Your prospect in juniors or college is having a good time, the team’s played well. And then two weeks later you walk out of the rink thinking, ‘Oh my God, there’s no end in sight.’ What I try to do is just stick with it.”
By all accounts, Yzerman has hit on all of his first-round picks. Moritz Seider is developing into one of the NHL’s most complete defensemen. Lucas Raymond is an offensive threat. Defenseman Jake Walman took a giant leap in his development. Most of Yzerman’s offseason acquisitions helped, some like David Perron and Olli Maatta exceeded expectations.
“The veteran free agents that we signed, good stats, bad stats, whatever,” Yzerman said. “I really liked them as people. I like what they’ve brought to our team. Not only did they help us this year, I think they’re gonna help us next year and moving forward. ”
I would agree. Progress even if it's not fast. The Wings have been screwed every draft lottery. It's not helping.
Expect it again.
Neither are injuries, and Chiarot. Copp was pretty meh.
I do think its team culture. And goaltending, which these days in the league is so hard to solidify. One week your guy is an all star, the next hes AHL level.
from John Niyo of the Detroit News,
Asked to assess the progress on that front Friday, Yzerman struggled to find the right words initially, before settling on this, Well it has gone OK.
I'd love to be further ahead in the process, he added. Again, as I started out saying four years ago, it's going to take time, we're going to have to be patient.
And this, of course, is where your patience is being tested on multiple fronts if youre a Red Wings fan. Or a fan of the Tigers or Pistons, for that matter. (The Lions? Check back in October.) Either the goalposts keep moving, or theyre still so far off it hardly matters.
I'm not disappointed at where we're at: I guess I'm OK with it, Yzerman continued. But I intend to stick with the process, the plan. Nothing's going to dramatically change. And we'll continue to look for opportunities, as I say repeatedly, to expedite the process.
But how do you expedite the process when youre periodically delaying it? Thats the question GMs often find themselves answering in situations like the one Yzerman inherited in Detroit, where a playoff push that lasted a quarter-century finally faced its reckoning.
And as Yzerman is well aware, some of the pressure hell be feeling this offseason he cooked up for himself at the NHL trade deadline last month, selling off four key players including arguably the teams best goal-scorers in Jakub Vrana and Tyler Bertuzzi to acquire more draft capital.
It made sense at the time, and still does in the abstract. As rookie head coach Derek Lalonde admitted Friday, he didnt think this was a playoff team at the start of the season and neither he nor his GM really were fooled into thinking it was even during a February surge that had the fans feeling it.
And right, wrong or indifferent, were probably exactly where we belong, said Lalonde, who finished the season with a patchwork lineup that limped to the finish line with a sub-.500 record (35-37-10) and 80 points in 82 games.
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And as Yzerman is well aware, some of the pressure hell be feeling this offseason he cooked up for himself at the NHL trade deadline last month, selling off four key players including arguably the teams best goal-scorers in Jakub Vrana and Tyler Bertuzzi to acquire more draft capital.
That's just not true. Yzerman traded Bert because he didn't think he could sign him for a reasonable amount, and because of his age and injury history. And he sure didn't traded Vrana because he wanted that 7th-round pick. [Someday I'd love to find out exactly why he did trade him. There's an interesting story there.]
And given that, in the first four of the last five drafts, the Wings dropped a total of 11 spots out of a maximum of 12, I think they've done pretty damn well in the draft. The only signing I worry about is Copp. But we'll see what he's like coming into next sason healthy.
As for prospects, I watched the Griffins final home game on local TV tonight and Edvinsson continues to look really, really poised. He's a terrific puck mover. And the latest "phenom," Amadeus Lombardi, looked good. He just needs a few more pounds and some time to adjust to pro-level hockey.
In addition to those two, I think guys like Cross Hanas, Carter Mazur, William Wallinder, Elmer Soderblom, Albert Johansson and Sebastian Cossa will be in Detroit in the next couple of years (if not sooner). Marco Kasper will probably be there next year. And there's a chance that guys like Pontus Andreasson, Eemil Viro, and Robert Mastrosimone may make it as well.
As everyone knows, what the Wings lack is a high-end scorer. So maybe they'll finally get rewarded with the #1 or #2 pick this year in the lottery. Okay, that's just silly talk. But hopefully Yzerman can use some of his picks and prospects to add one via trade. We'll see.
All in all, and given the fact that the Wings are in the toughest division in hockey, I'm not all that disappointed in where they're at right now.
I am with you OTC. I like the direction the team is going with the prospects. I rather even miss the playoffs next year than add a bunch of FAs for instant gratification.
Agree on that. Why barely make the playoffs just to get blown out?
Its a sad tell that the Red Wings coaches and players are always available for the World Championships.
I hope most of the young players can become effective NHL players, and soon, although none seem to be that high end superstar most teams need, as does Detroit.
Yzerman has picked some guys with grit and heart, although we lost one in Bertuzzi, and were likely to lose him anyway.
The thing that concerns me is the performance of the GR players with their lack of production and failure to make the playoffs. Is it the players or the coaching and structure?
I have a feeling that Simon will be gone after this season. For the items OTC said below fit for this season, but even with decent talent and more steady rosters the prior seasons, I do not think they meet the mark.
That was talked about during the broadcast of the Griffins game last night. Basically it came down to three things.
One, the Wings kept calling up their better players because of Detroit's injuries.
Two, the Griffins had a lot of injuries themselves. The loss of Cross Hanas was a big setback for them.
Three, and most importantly, their goaltending absolutely sucked. Brattstrom was supposed to be their go-to guy and he had a 3.17 GAA and a .885 SV%. Cossa was sent to the ECHL after three games with a 5.57 GAA and a .783 SV%. Olkinuora lasted 15 games with a 3.75 GAA and a .868 SV% before the Wings "loaned" him to a Swedish team. They signed Lethemon later in the season, and he had a 3.46 GAA and a .890 SV%.
Last night's goalie, Ryan Bednard, has shown some promise, but it's a small sample size and, at 26, he's been floating between the AHL and the ECHL for the past four years. He ended his four games with the Griffs with a 2.00 GAA and a .937 SV%. He's big (6'5" and 205 lbs) and very athletic, but he shows a five-hole you could drive a truck through. Still, I'm guessing they'll sign him to a two-way contract for next year and see what happens.
Next year, if they get at least decent goalttending, they'll have a lineup that includes Carter Mazur, Cross Hanas, Pontus Andreasson and Amadeus Lombardi up front plus Wallinder, Viro and Johansson on the back end (at least to start the season). So their record should look quite a bit better.
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