from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

One year after being appointed general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, Yzerman has put a small but significant imprint on the team. He has jettisoned a couple of underperforming veterans for draft picks, has flipped a waiver-pick up for a player who looks like he can be a part of the future, has mined waiver wires — and has taken at least one gamble that it looks like he may lose....

Here is a look at Yzerman’s first year in office.

Signings

Yzerman’s forayed into free agency last July to sign veteran forward and former Wing Valtteri Filppula (two years, $3 million annual cap hit), veteran defenseman Patrik Nemeth (two years, $3 million cap hit) and journeyman goaltender Calvin Pickard (2 years, $750,000 cap hit). Filppula has a reputation as a reliable two-way forward, but he struggled to demonstrate that on a team as bad as the Wings, registering 21 points and a minus-42 rating in 70 games. Nemeth (9 points, minus-10 in 64 games) did what he was brought into to do, and that was be a solid defender. Pickard was a disappointment — he was supposed to be insurance in case something went wrong with Jimmy Howard or Jonathan Bernier, but Pickard played so poorly in three NHL appearances (5.46 goals-against average, .797 save percentage) that he wasn’t called up even as Howard’s play deteriorated exponentially.

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