Confirmed Signing with Link: [DET] F Vladimir Tarasenko signs with the Red Wings (2 years, $4.75M AAV)

[Run the Jewels]

You're the one who said 20 years. None of the guys you mentioned were in the system for 20 years, obviously. Ekblad is grossly overpaid and doesn't even crack the top ten most valuable players on the team. Bob's been here a whopping five years, came as a UFA with a bank-breaking contract.

I maintain that in any sport with free agency, the idea that you need to spend five-plus years 'rebuilding' is a farce. Good teams can be assembled very quickly in hockey, in football, in other sports. I'm not saying this is the case here -- I think Detroit is in good hands overall -- but many GMs use this as an excuse for being bad at their jobs.

Yzerman inherited Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Martin St Louis, Vinny LeCavalier and Alex Killorn when he became GM In Tampa. He drafted Kucherov, Point, Valislevskiy and Palat and it still took Tampa 10 years to win a Cup.

You can say whatever you like, but even if you win the lottery in a draft where there is a good but not generational player it takes a long time to build a winner. Let's look at Edmonton's recent #1 overall picks, a luxury Detroit hasn't had for nearly 40 years (1986).

2010: Taylor Hall
2011: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
2012: Nail Yakupov
2015: Connor McDavid

So over a 6 year period, the Oilers not only had to be one of the absolute worst teams in the league, they also had to win the draft lottery (easier to do prior to 2013) and then were at the mercy of the draft class. Twice the #1 pick returned really good NHL players, once it returned what most would classify as a bust, and once it returned a truly generational player.

It's been 14 years since Edmonton got the first of their 4 #1 overall picks! They've had six top 5 picks over that time. And while the Oilers are close to winning a Cup, there's a good chance the cap crunch results in key players being moved in the very near future. Or draft capital being traded away to lose a bad contract or two.

Then there's the fact the NHL changed the draft lottery structure to prevent another team from doing what Edmonton did in accumulating so much draft capital at the top of the draft. When Edmonton drafted Taylor Hall they had a 48.2% chance at winning the top pick. When Detroit was by far the worst team in the league in 2019-20, they had an 18.5% chance at the #1 pick.

So no, it's not easy to build a winner. Edmonton is the poster child for what most think is the 'easy' path to building a Cup Contender. They are in year 14 and while they have a couple truly elite players, they are also close to being in cap hell.

 

[Muffin]

Nope.

They traded Walman to open 3.4M in cap space --> to open a roster spot for 900k ELC kid Edvinsson and adding a Starting Goalie Cam Talbot with that 2.5M extra space.

And now they traded struggling 4.0M Fabbri away to open cap space for 4.75M Tarasenko. Clearly a great winger upgrade.

Red Wings have now pushed both of their worst defensive wingers (Fabbri and Spring) out + Perron who regressed really bad at last season.

And those will be replaced by promoting Berggren, adding Tarasenko and also Tyler Motte, who will make the PK better, and maybe takes Larkin out from there for offence-only situations.

It's still RD trade in the works, and then the team is quite ready.

Yzerman knows what he is doing, and it's you who don't know what you are talking.

Talk is cheap. He knows what he’s doing but have not made the playoffs or had a top 3 pick. Exactly where you don’t want to be as a Franchise. One look at that roster and it’s filled with mediocre NHL players with no stars who won’t win anything but not bad enough to draft top 3.

 

[dgibb10]

I think most of us understand building a great team, that is what is being pitched. A lot of Wings fans, some are much younger now but a lot of Wings fans witnessed a two decade run with constant home ice advantage. Depends on the players you're building it with.

Yzerman has been discussed a lot more harshly the last week than at any other point in terms of Detroit. There is also a pretty big discussion in our fan-base that a lot of the deals that were being handed out were insane. When you constantly gripe about the money spent on x,y, and z well hard to criticize only getting player people are mostly okay with. I think there was a bigger plan to be had, but it didn't materialize so he didn't force it.

I think it is understandable to date the team he took over and where he is. Ownership pushed Holland there and Yzerman is basically like another child to Marian and the late Mike Ilitch. He isn't in the danger that people want him to be and he was ideally situated to have a patient rebuild. He has re-established tremendous organizational depth and the team has gotten better every year. Other teams can mock that but there is a logical build here that I can honestly defend. It is going slower than we have hoped but in our one tank year we got lottery screwed, luckily we got Raymond but it isn't like he has had a ton of breaks and the team has just got progressively better while gaining depth at every level. Again that is his job, run him from a different market, lots do around Detroit. For some of us while progress needs to come, yes the true contention goal really is probably 2 or 3 years out. Need to keep making gains, but the panic and laughs seem to ignore that they have upgraded in goal, are graduating a guy that finished as their second or third best d-man being promoted and have some very projectable prospects that will begin replacing vets as early as this year. Edvinsson going on the second pair was always going to be their biggest and most important gain of the off-season.

Walman to a 20 year old Edvinsson is very likely a downgrade, not an upgrade

 

[RedHawkDown]

Walman to a 20 year old Edvinsson is very likely a downgrade, not an upgrade

If end of season Walman to Edvinsson is a downgrade it doesn’t matter what Steve does because we will have to restart the rebuild anyways.

At some point the prospects drafted top 10 have to blow the doors off and become stars.

 

[evolutionbaby]

Walman to a 20 year old Edvinsson is very likely a downgrade, not an upgrade

In the short term, you’re probably right but I would be willing to predict that what Ed gives them by the end of the year will be an upgrade.

 

[saska sault]

Walman to a 20 year old Edvinsson is very likely a downgrade, not an upgrade

Walman, the healthy scratch? The defensive stalwart averaging 19 points his last 2 seasons? Let's pray Simon can answer the call.

 

[KJoe88]

Talk is cheap. He knows what he’s doing but have not made the playoffs or had a top 3 pick. Exactly where you don’t want to be as a Franchise. One look at that roster and it’s filled with mediocre NHL players with no stars who won’t win anything but not bad enough to draft top 3.

lol what a post

 

[Run the Jewels]

Talk is cheap. He knows what he’s doing but have not made the playoffs or had a top 3 pick. Exactly where you don’t want to be as a Franchise. One look at that roster and it’s filled with mediocre NHL players with no stars who won’t win anything but not bad enough to draft top 3.

Redo the 2020 draft and at worst Lucas Raymond goes #2 overall behind Tim Stützle. Redo the 2019 draft and again there's a good chance Moritz Seider goes #2 overall behind Jack Hughes.

Detroit has turned much of the draft over to their European scouts and is finally giving them most of their 1st round draft picks. In 2-3 years the top 4 on defense will mostly be home grown: Seider, Edvinsson, Sandin-Pelikka, maybe William Wallinder, Albert Johnansson or Anton Johansson. When Detroit was great in the 90s-00s they were built from the back end and that looks to be what Yzerman is doing right now.

 

[Muffin]

lol what a post

If you're happy with missing the playoffs for 8 straight seasons with zero game breaking talent to show for it then all the power to you

 

[Carmine Cirella]

Talk is cheap. He knows what he’s doing but have not made the playoffs or had a top 3 pick. Exactly where you don’t want to be as a Franchise. One look at that roster and it’s filled with mediocre NHL players with no stars who won’t win anything but not bad enough to draft top 3.

It's almost mindblowing how many people act like the current roster is the final product. Is it really that difficult to imagine how a team with a pretty much consensus top 5 prospect pool could get better in the future?

 

[ZDH]

If you're happy with missing the playoffs for 8 straight seasons with zero game breaking talent to show for it then all the power to you

Ok.

You list what game breaking talent you would've drafted in Steve Yzerman's position in each respective draft year since he's taken over.

 

[centipede2233]

Talk is cheap. He knows what he’s doing but have not made the playoffs or had a top 3 pick. Exactly where you don’t want to be as a Franchise. One look at that roster and it’s filled with mediocre NHL players with no stars who won’t win anything but not bad enough to draft top 3.

Exactl, yzerman recruiting mid players = a mid team. A non playoff team but not bottom 10. The worst place to be

 

[nbwingsfan]

You're the one who said 20 years. None of the guys you mentioned were in the system for 20 years, obviously. Ekblad is grossly overpaid and doesn't even crack the top ten most valuable players on the team. Bob's been here a whopping five years, came as a UFA with a bank-breaking contract.

I maintain that in any sport with free agency, the idea that you need to spend five-plus years 'rebuilding' is a farce. Good teams can be assembled very quickly in hockey, in football, in other sports. I'm not saying this is the case here -- I think Detroit is in good hands overall -- but many GMs use this as an excuse for being bad at their jobs.

I never said anything about 20 years that was something different, it’s just hilarious that you glossed over a #2 overall pick (who happens to be a top 5 C in the world, and a multiple Vezina winner/finalist as if they’re nothing.

 

[Ezekial]

Walman to a 20 year old Edvinsson is very likely a downgrade, not an upgrade

Why is Walman so f***ing overrated around here?

 

[Muffin]

Ok.

You list what game breaking talent you would've drafted in Steve Yzerman's position in each respective draft year since he's taken over.

That's kinda my point? Maybe if you don't sign mediocre players to miss the playoffs by a few points they might be in better position to select more high end talent?

 

[ZDH]

That's kinda my point? Maybe if you don't sign mediocre players to miss the playoffs by a few points they might be in better position to select more high end talent?

They were in position to get high end talent multiple times and have had statistically the worst draft luck in the entire nhl.

They finished dead last and got 4th overall ffs.

 

[nbwingsfan]

I've never understood the notion either. When people say things like X team is 5-7 years from contending, it means their rebuild was a complete failure. I don't think rebuilds take more than 3-4 years before the team should be competitive or else it was a rebuild of a rebuild. Only "exception" type of situation might be the Sharks, but that was more an old team that was hamstrung by old players declining and not truly rebuilding. Our true rebuild only started a couple of years ago. I think if we're not fighting in the playoffs in 2 years, that the rebuild was a failure.

Just my opinion of course and I'm sure many will disagree.

Congratulations, you just described the 2019/20 Wings that Yzerman took over

 

[Shane Diesel]

Ok.

You list what game breaking talent you would've drafted in Steve Yzerman's position in each respective draft year since he's taken over.

Wait, what? I thought his drafting in Tampa proved he was a genius and could pull talent from anywhere.

Now in Deteoit it's not his fault, it's all bad luck due to the lottery and lack of talent in the respective draft years?

 

[Puck Tiss]

Exactl, yzerman recruiting mid players = a mid team. A non playoff team but not bottom 10. The worst place to be

You need mid players to be semi competitive to let your prospects develop. You dont run before you can walk. It also looks like the Red Wings cap structure is set up that way

 

[Ezekial]

Wait, what? I thought his drafting in Tampa proved he was a genius and could pull talent from anywhere.

Now in Deteoit it's not his fault, it's all bad luck due to the lottery and lack of talent in the respective draft years?

Pretty sure they're just asking which players that were drafted after our picks would have immediately changed the direction of our franchise from where it is now if we selected them instead.

Drafting Stankoven over Buium is one, although he doesn't change where we are at this point much.
Seider, Raymond, and Edvinsson all look like correct choices in the first round from his first 3 drafts.

 

[ZDH]

Wait, what? I thought his drafting in Tampa proved he was a genius and could pull talent from anywhere.

Now in Deteoit it's not his fault, it's all bad luck due to the lottery and lack of talent in the respective draft years?

Name a player he should've drafted over Raymond.

Now do Seider. Etc.

The problem isn't his drafting the problem is the NHL's massive draft lottery overcorrection after Edmonton's NHL draft run. It being mathematically possible to get the 4th overall pick as the team that finished dead last is a joke.

 

[Shane Diesel]

Name a player he should've drafted over Raymond.

Now do Seider. Etc.

The problem isn't his drafting the problem is the NHL's massive draft lottery overcorrection after Edmonton's NHL draft run. It being mathematically possible to get the 4th overall pick as the team that finished dead last is a joke.

The Avs made it work when it happened to them.

 

[The Red Line]

I've been hearing this for like 3 years. And they've handed out a lot of long-term contracts to mid guys.

Huh? In free agency Yzerman went out and tossed a lot of money on guys like Copp, Compher, Holl, Chiarot, Maatta, etc.

#trust the Yzerplan


Well, what is he doing?

Which one of those contracts is handcuffing them right now with over 20 million in cap space and 2 RFAs to sign?

What he's doing is improving the team with short term veteran deals on guys who can contribute while the prospects develop. Despite how many times this has been explained it's crazy how hard it is for folks to understand.

 

[thefutures]

I've been hearing this for like 3 years. And they've handed out a lot of long-term contracts to mid guys.

Huh? In free agency Yzerman went out and tossed a lot of money on guys like Copp, Compher, Holl, Chiarot, Maatta, etc.

#trust the Yzerplan


Well, what is he doing?

The biggest deal he has handed out in UFA market is Copp at just over 28m over 5 years. None of his FA action has hindered them in anyway. 28m this year doesn't even get you Zadorov.

The Yzerplan is build through the draft, its worth looking into his picks from the past 5 years. He has only 3 of his picks playing for him so far, Seider, Raymond and Edvinsson who just got there. If his picks fail then the Yzerplan is a failure but the guys hes drafted that make his team look pretty good so far.

 

[KJoe88]

If you're happy with missing the playoffs for 8 straight seasons with zero game breaking talent to show for it then all the power to you

Assuming you’re an Oilers fan… Your team can’t even win a cup with the best players in the world. Getting to the finals means nothing if you can’t win it.