Detroit Redwings Downfall

[Bleedred]

I mean you either heard that from fans or bullshit media sources, neither of which you should hold any stock in.

I was skeptical he was going to get fired in only his second year when they barely missed the playoffs. Especially with how many years Yzerman kept Blashill as head coach after he arrived. I thought he'd be fired after his first season there and he wasn't.

 

[qc14]

the Wings have to, within 3-4 years, somehow add at least 5 solid top-9 forwards, 3 reliable NHL Dmen and one good starting goalie, and that's assuming Detroit's current good players don't regress too much. Even the most optimistic Wings fan can't seriously expect that all those guys will come from the Griffins; even the best farm systems in the league aren't nearly that productive.

This is a great point and a very under-appreciated part of every good rebuild/retool/transition.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

I was skeptical he was going to get fired in only his second year when they barely missed the playoffs. Especially with how many years Yzerman kept Blashill as head coach after he arrived. I thought he'd be fired after his first season there and he wasn't.

The problem is last year could be considered "Progress". And you're not really gonna fire a coach when you've made progress. But I just watch some of the shit they did last year and think it's just not a system that works.

I think to a degree, Red Wings management likes stability for young players, which is why Blashill lasted as long as he did, and may be why Lalonde could continue to stick for awhile.

What concerns me is, how much of this is Lalonde and how much is Yzerman. I cannot wrap my head around making your big defensive priority this season finding a cheap Ghost replacement (Gustafsson) rather than finding a righty that can actually play f***ing defense so that Seider isn't murdered with assignments.

 

[Dotter]

The point isn't to collect a bunch of mid prospects though, the point is to 1) make the playoffs 2) win a Cup. They won't come close to that second one if their pipeline is mostly made up of Cross Hanas and Shai Buium types (re: career AHLers).

You spend a lot of time in this thread commenting... and this ^ comment just exposed you.

That being said, it is true Hanas and Buium are likely career AHLers. The part that exposed you is the "pipeline" part. We know who you are now... please don't change your username.

 

[ShakenNotStirred]

The smugness is correct. At some point you'll have to admit the team is just bad.

Like last season, when many Wings fans claimed the team was ready to take the next step, when in reality, they were on a shooting percentage heater. They predictably fell off. The critics were right. How many Ls are you gonna take?

What should the record of the team be had they been gifted a "good" coach? What is the true talent level of this roster? Are they a legit playoff team? Better?

Can you point out exactly when they fell off?

Was it when key injuries kicked them in the teeth down the stretch and the they still finished zero points out of the playoffs?

 

[VeteranPresence]

You spend a lot of time in this thread commenting... and this ^ comment just exposed you.

That being said, it is true Hanas and Buium are likely career AHLers. The part that exposed you is the "pipeline" part. We know who you are now... please don't change your username.

Exposed for pointing out Stevie's poor drafting You all really do live in your own reality, enjoy the Yzerplan unfolding in about 7-10 years.

 

[Dotter]

High lottery picks and a 7th defenseman that's already almost 24? I'm not talking about early picks because the assumption is they workout. Detroit is the only fanbase that would treat Mazur as a sure thing instead of a guy they hope becomes something.

Using that logic, almost every team failed drafting. Look at the 2nd-7th round players drafted from 2019-2024. You'll see Yzerman didn't miss anything worthy, at least not anything you can't pick up on waivers or UFA.

Mazur is probably a Tyler Motte.

 

[Dotter]

Exposed for pointing out Stevie's poor drafting You all really do live in your own reality, enjoy the Yzerplan unfolding in about 7-10 years.

You almost had me fooled on intent. Now we know!

I feel dumb for not catching on sooner.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Can you point out exactly when they fell off?

Was it when key injuries kicked them in the teeth down the stretch and the they still finished zero points out of the playoffs?

I mean this is kind of an exaggeration. The only true catastrophic loss during that March run was Larkin. Obviously that's a big loss, but if your team implodes as badly as Detroit did in March because of losing one player, they probably weren't that good in the first place.

 

[VeteranPresence]

You almost had me fooled on intent. Now we know!

I feel dumb for not catching on sooner.

I don't think I've hid that my intent is to inject a little bit of reality into the "three #1 defensemen and a whole pipeline of other superstars" narrative you're trying to craft here. The only way to prove me wrong is to make the playoffs and win at least one round. I look forward to you replying in, oh, five years from now.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Exposed for pointing out Stevie's poor drafting You all really do live in your own reality, enjoy the Yzerplan unfolding in about 7-10 years.

Buddy, you claimed the system was full of Buium's and Hanas', neither of whom were even considered Top 10 in Detroit's pool this offseason.

Strange you wanna talk about Buium and Hanas and not Buchelnikov or Augustine, who aren't even considered top 5 in Detroit.

 

[dirtydanglez]

i just dont see what the plan is for the wings. they have young prospects and players but not enough to be a serious competitor in the future. yzerman filled the team with medicore vets that are just good enough to prevent the wings from drafting the best talent. it looks like the recipe for being stuck in the middle.

 

[qc14]

Can you point out exactly when they fell off?

Was it when key injuries kicked them in the teeth down the stretch and the they still finished zero points out of the playoffs?

Probably when they were comfortably in a playoff spot in the beginning of March then lost 7 in a row. Or maybe the end of March where they lost another 4 in a row. Or maybe when they had 4 games in the final 15 of the season against their direct playoff rivals and lost all four. Or maybe when they finished on the outside looking in to what was probably the worst playoff team of the last 15 years.

 

[eojsmada]

i just dont see what the plan is for the wings. they have young prospects and players but not enough to be a serious competitor in the future. yzerman filled the team with medicore vets that are just good enough to prevent the wings from drafting the best talent. it looks like the recipe for being stuck in the middle.

Not sure Yzerman can even have much of a plan, other than to try and fill spots that can't be filled by prospects, with whatever the "right fit" of Free Agent that is available. The Wings can't really make any significant trades that bring back a higher-tier prospect and most likely not even much more than a 2nd round pick. So they are stuck in neutral until they have more of their prospects turn into legit NHL'ers or they happen to catch a team in the midst of a fire-sale who they might be able to get good value on.

They have done well with the majority of their 1st rounders, so far, but just haven't hit on anything else after that. Not sure if it's a development problem or not. They only recently (last year) started paying more attention to their AHL team, so it might take some time to see how that shakes out.

 

[Zarzh]

Using that logic, almost every team failed drafting. Look at the 2nd-7th round players drafted from 2019-2024. You'll see Yzerman didn't miss anything worthy, at least not anything you can't pick up on waivers or UFA.

Mazur is probably a Tyler Motte.

Holland got those guys somewhat consistently. Plenty of teams will get a useful or even great player with far fewer picks than Yzerman had.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Holland got those guys somewhat consistently. Plenty of teams will get a useful or even great player with far fewer picks than Yzerman had.

Holland/Wright drafting from 2015 on was an absolute dumpster fire.

 

[bossram]

Can you point out exactly when they fell off?

Was it when key injuries kicked them in the teeth down the stretch and the they still finished zero points out of the playoffs?

When their shooting percentage declined.

Aaaah yes, injuries. No other team in history has experienced those.

 

[DavidpauseReinbacher]

Lol some of u fat mouth breathers need to wipe the crumbs off your piss stained shirts before typing anymore drivel.

 

[ShakenNotStirred]

Probably when they were comfortably in a playoff spot in the beginning of March then lost 7 in a row. Or maybe the end of March where they lost another 4 in a row. Or maybe when they had 4 games in the final 15 of the season against their direct playoff rivals and lost all four. Or maybe when they finished on the outside looking in to what was probably the worst playoff team of the last 15 years.

I'd like too see some of the Silky Johnson's predictions out there about where the wings were expected to finish last year.

Lots of salty pretzels in this thread for a team that's been shat on for the better part of a decade. I get it, part of me wants all hot tubs cold too but the yzerplan has different ideas.

 

[RedHawkDown]

Holland got those guys somewhat consistently. Plenty of teams will get a useful or even great player with far fewer picks than Yzerman had.

….what? Holland got those guys consistently ?

I’ve officially heard it all in this thread lmfao

 

[Dotter]

I don't think I've hid that my intent is to inject a little bit of reality into the "three #1 defensemen and a whole pipeline of other superstars" narrative you're trying to craft here. The only way to prove me wrong is to make the playoffs and win at least one round. I look forward to you replying in, oh, five years from now.

You know you've been had when you have to make things up and lie.

 

[nbwingsfan]

They had a 1C, some young forwards, and a young top 4 defenseman instead of cope about how some prospect that isn't scoring much is going to transform into a top 6 forward or top 4 defenseman or hanging your only hopes on Augustine and Buchelnikov. Holland wasn't perfect but he did an above average job with what he had, you'd think Yzerman would have more hits by random chance than he does.

“Some young forwards” were 50pt players.

They had one top 4D, who he’s turned into a top D prospect.

Holland left him in the arguably the worst prospect pool in the NHL at the time.

once again… what are you talking about

Holland got those guys somewhat consistently. Plenty of teams will get a useful or even great player with far fewer picks than Yzerman had.

Please show us all of the “consistent” picks Yzerman got in those rounds since 2010… I’ll wait.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

I think we're at the point in this thread where, despite Detroit fans naturally having some sort of homerism, most neutral fans are just arguing in circles and have absolutely no idea what they're talking about with regards to the franchise

Best to stay in your own lanes. Isn't it a good thing for the rest of you that Detroit blows chunks and has absolutely no direction, or whatever it is you're trying to narrate?

 

[SympathyForTheDevils]

Not sure Yzerman can even have much of a plan, other than to try and fill spots that can't be filled by prospects, with whatever the "right fit" of Free Agent that is available. The Wings can't really make any significant trades that bring back a higher-tier prospect and most likely not even much more than a 2nd round pick. So they are stuck in neutral until they have more of their prospects turn into legit NHL'ers or they happen to catch a team in the midst of a fire-sale who they might be able to get good value on.

I'm not exactly Yzerman's harshest critic, but if that truly was Yzerman's plan, just wait for the prospects and fill existing holes in free agency, he should absolutely be fired (though I can't imagine that's the case). If GMing was that simple they might as well hire some idiot on HF to do the job.

I mean, finding creative ways to improve the team with existing assets is a big part of the job. If Wings fans actually think the draft and free agency alone will lift the team out of mediocrity, they're setting themselves up for a lot of disappointment. Might as well pre-emptively organize a group therapy session with Buffalo fans and Chicago fans.

 

[eojsmada]

I'm not exactly Yzerman's harshest critic, but if that truly was Yzerman's plan, just wait for the prospects and fill existing holes in free agency, he should absolutely be fired (though I can't imagine that's the case). If GMing was that simple they might as well hire some idiot on HF to do the job.

I mean, finding creative ways to improve the team with existing assets is a big part of the job. If Wings fans actually think the draft and free agency alone will lift the team out of mediocrity, they're setting themselves up for a lot of disappointment. Might as well pre-emptively organize a group therapy session with Buffalo fans and Chicago fans.

I'd be all ears as to how more creative he can be. Unless the draft picks hit and the free agents you sign play up to where you thought they would be, then he's kind of stuck. They're not giving up Danielson, Kasper, Nyggard, Lombardi, Pellikka, Augustine, Cossa, or Buchelnikov from their pool. Aside from that, I would think every prospect is tradable. The issue is how much value is there in any of the ones remaining. They can't trade any of the 8 aforementioned prospects to try and just make the playoffs, because that would be a massive waste. As well, it takes someone being a willing trade partner to see value in any of the assets you are willing to trade away.

Yzerman was pretty creative in getting, at the time, Husso, Nedejlkovic, Debrincat, and Petry. That none of those players has panned isn't Yzerman's fault or for a lack of creativity. Granted Petry is playing way above where I think the Wings wanted him to because the bottom pair is so bad. Granted, I'm not sure why Johannson isn't playing, but that's a coaching issue.

The problem with the Wings, is that even if they were in contention for, and made, the playoffs this year, would it do them any good? They aren't a Cup contender and won't be for a few years still. So if the team continues to have holes in it while continuing to develop players to be ready to take over the majority of aging "holes" in the lineup, what does it behoove Yzerman to go all in to make the playoffs and sacrifice their more legit prospects.