Detroit Redwings Downfall

[Hockeyfan2390]

After 6 seasons as GM "The Yzerplan" has his team sitting in 23rd place...how can anyone defend this is beyond me.

"Because he's THE CAPTAIN! You think you know more than him?" - Yzerbot logic

Don't worry, though - all of their vaunted prospects (again, which are nothing but job security) are guaranteed to be the next Nathan MacKinnon, Victor Hedman, and Andrei Vasilevsky, and they'll immediately turn Detroit into a Cup contender the second they step onto the ice for their 1st NHL shifts. Trust me bro.

 

[deca guard]

After 6 seasons as GM "The Yzerplan" has his team sitting in 23rd place...how can anyone defend this is beyond me.

please explain to us how a gms is supposed to rebuild the worst 50 man depth chart in nhl , in a capped league , in 6 years when if your doing a great job drafting you might add 4 top half players / 4 bottom half / goalie while he had no chance at drafting a superstar while drafting at 4th/6th/6th . and while it being fact that if he spent long term big coin cap space on a hamilton and johnny hockey redwings are still not champs and only would have ended up drafting at later places in draft which cost them chances at excellent long term adds like kasper n dannyson ?????????? YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT ! btw , theres a nifty group of prospects coming along that are going to fill up the rest of the 4 top n 4 bottom half positions including a two headed monster in net of cossa n augusta 'the spaghetti brothers'

 

[Hockeyfan2390]

please explain to us how a gms is supposed to rebuild the worst 50 man depth chart in nhl , in a capped league , in 6 years when if your doing a great job drafting you might add 4 top half players / 4 bottom half / goalie while he had to chance at drafting a superstar while drafting at 4th/6th/6th . and while it being fact that if he spent long term big coin cap space on a hamilton and johnny hockey redwings are still not champs and only would have ended up drafting at later places in draft which cost them chances at excellent long term adds like kasper n dannyson ?????????? YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT !

We get it - Steve Yzerman was your favorite player and it's blasphemy to even think of criticizing him.

Oh, and nobody said the Red Wings need "to be champs" by year 6. Oh, and still waiting on what makes "Dannyson" (I'm assuming you meant Nate Danielson, maybe take it easy on the simping for Stevie rage typing) and his 9 goal in 61 games in the AHL this year so special.

 

[ShelbyZ]

I've wanted Yzerman fired since he signed Holl. Giving Leafs fans an excuse to point and laugh was inexcusable.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

please explain to us how a gms is supposed to rebuild the worst 50 man depth chart in nhl , in a capped league , in 6 years when if your doing a great job drafting you might add 4 top half players / 4 bottom half / goalie while he had no chance at drafting a superstar while drafting at 4th/6th/6th . and while it being fact that if he spent long term big coin cap space on a hamilton and johnny hockey redwings are still not champs and only would have ended up drafting at later places in draft which cost them chances at excellent long term adds like kasper n dannyson ?????????? YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT ! btw , theres a nifty group of prospects coming along that are going to fill up the rest of the 4 top n 4 bottom half positions including a two headed monster in net of cossa n augusta 'the spaghetti brothers'

So how many more times does Yzerman have to miss the playoffs before you start to go "hey this isn't f***ing working?"

He's on the verge of missing for a 6th straight year.

Is 7?

8?

10?

25?

How long does he get?

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I've wanted Yzerman fired since he signed Holl. Giving Leafs fans an excuse to point and laugh was inexcusable.

We told you, the SECOND he was signed.

You didn't listen

 

[PattyLafontaine]

The Walman trades should cast massive doubt alone. It's completely reasonable to believe that Walman was a personality mismatch, but giving him away for a second and then the Sharks getting a 1st for Walman the following year is terrible asset management.

Walman had a relatively small contract (3.4M) on short term (2yrs remaining) in a league with a lack of d-men. Wings should have been able to acquire a pick to ship off Walman.

 

[ShelbyZ]

We told you, the SECOND he was signed.

You didn't listen

Listen, I knew from the get go... I remember seeing all the vitriol from his recent playoff performance lol....

Yzerdrones on the other hand:

"Leaf fans were just over-reacting"
"He's just a plug. Won't be around when we're contenders in 2035"

all the way up to

"rEmEmBeR lArRy MuRpHy..."

 

[deca guard]

The Walman trades should cast massive doubt alone. It's completely reasonable to believe that Walman was a personality mismatch, but giving him away for a second and then the Sharks getting a 1st for Walman the following year is terrible asset management.

Walman had a relatively small contract (3.4M) on short term (2yrs remaining) in a league with a lack of d-men. Wings should have been able to acquire a pick to ship off Walman.

anything about the d'cat trade / seider n raymond home runs / monster edvinsson / moving up to get cossa / signing kane to raise kids / augusta-plante-buchelnikov-lombardi-kiiskinen-wallinder-finnie / prospect pool being rated top 5 by everybody ? big deal yzerman had an emotional moment because something happened off ice with walman , stuff like that happens with dead serious gung ho individuals . he prob caused an issue in the room and yzerman wanted the issue gone pdq , as with yzerman its all about room n culture

 

[Hockeyfan2390]

We told you, the SECOND he was signed.

You didn't listen

Woah man, you can't criticize scouts Maltby and Draper, they were on the Grind Line! You think you know more than they do?

 

[Hockeyfan2390]

The Walman trades should cast massive doubt alone. It's completely reasonable to believe that Walman was a personality mismatch, but giving him away for a second and then the Sharks getting a 1st for Walman the following year is terrible asset management.

Walman had a relatively small contract (3.4M) on short term (2yrs remaining) in a league with a lack of d-men. Wings should have been able to acquire a pick to ship off Walman.

Wow, it almost sounds like you think you know more than Yzerman! He's been in the NHL 4 decades! Let's see your credentials! - Yzerbots

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Woah man, you can't criticize scouts Maltby and Draper, they were on the Grind Line! You think you know more than they do?

When it comes to Justin Holl?

Yes and I have been proven correct

 

[Hockeyfan2390]

When it comes to Justin Holl?

Yes and I have been proven correct

My dog could have said that signing Justin Holl was gonna be a disaster.

But according to Yzerman's personal defender in this thread, you'd better not question anything he does because, you know, he's been in hockey for four decades.

 

[Andrei79]

I find Detroit misses that one player at the very least. They've been unlucky at the draft mostly, but have made good selections with their high picks. I think he shouldn't have tried to accelerate the process after 2021-2022 however. They showed good progress, but considering the dearth of quality players and prospects he came into in 2019, the team needed better drafting capital, or at least another season to "prove" they were ready to take another step forward with the same group. Perron, Kubalik, Copp, Maata and Chiarot were patchwork moreso than building. He's continued down that road since when he needed a longer period of asset accumulation (young players/prospects/picks) considering what he came into.

 

[Jeremy2020]

So how many more times does Yzerman have to miss the playoffs before you start to go "hey this isn't f***ing working?"

He's on the verge of missing for a 6th straight year.

Is 7?

8?

10?

25?

How long does he get?

yes, yes... keep going

 

[RedHawkDown]

Dorion certainly was backed into a corner by his own incompetence and got fleeced.

Then Staios turned around and used the 1st round pick the Sens go from Detroit as the main piece to get Ullmark.

If the Wings had Ullmark instead of DeBrincat, they'd be likely on the verge of making the playoffs. They have a decent roster, but average to bad goaltenders the last few years have been their Waterloo.

There is no reason they couldn't have traded for Ullmark, but Staios is a better GM than Yzerman.

There is no guarantee their kids will become above-average goalies. Heck, the Sens' Merilainen is .925 and 1.99 in 12 NHL games this year and better AHL stats than Cossa, and I'm not guaranteening he'll be above-average.

No shot. Debrincat has been fantastic and easily the 2nd best forward all year. Our defense is atrocious, there’s a reason all 3 goalies have the same trash stats

 

[RedHawkDown]

Seems like folks confused a new coach bump with something more permanent.

They still look night and day better under McLellan, even during the recent losing streak. It’s actually not even close.

 

[TheDoldrums]

I find Detroit misses that one player at the very least.

Don't worry, the saviour Nate Danielson is on the way.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

But according to Yzerman's personal defender in this thread, you'd better not question anything he does because, you know, he's been in hockey for four decades.

Yzerman, Ron Francis and Barry Trotz all need to be sent packing. Only very rarely does experience as a player or a coach translate to GM skills, and it quite obviously didn't translate with any of them.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

This take is loud, but it misses a ton of context.

“A rebuild shouldn’t take six years if done correctly.”
What rebuild are you comparing it to? Detroit didn’t just need a retool — they needed a full teardown after the Holland era left them with no cap space, a bottom-tier farm system, and a bloated, aging core. This wasn’t flipping a few pieces — it was a ground-up restructure. Go look at what Chicago is going through right now. Even Buffalo and Ottawa, who started earlier than Detroit, haven’t made the leap yet.

“2-10 in their last 12, meltdown #3.”
Every team hits rough patches. That doesn’t erase the months of being in playoff contention with a roster that’s still maturing. And yes — collapsing down the stretch sucks, but growing teams often have to learn through those stumbles. This is still progress compared to where they were even 2 years ago.

“Cap flexibility misused at the deadline.”
The Wings didn’t go all-in because they weren’t a true contender — and that’s smart asset management. You don’t waste 1st-rounders or top prospects for rentals when your goal is sustained success. Talbot and Mrazek were cheap veteran placeholders, and Cossa has had exactly one full AHL season. Rushing goalies ruins more careers than it saves.

“Offseason signings were bad.”
Tarasenko and Gustafsson were short-term deals — low risk, possibly flippable at the deadline. As for Copp and Compher: every team needs middle-six depth and veteran centers who can play both ways. Overpaying slightly in free agency is normal — it’s not a Ken Holland mistake, it’s the price of insulating your youth.

“The prospect pool has no elite talent.”
ASP is elite. Cossa is progressing well. Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper, Edvinsson, Mazur, Soderblom — that's not nothing. You don’t need a dozen elite guys. You need a core with supporting cast. The system has depth and upside. That’s how you sustain success.

“Fan patience is dwindling — he should be fired.”
Yzerman inherited a mess and has built a team that today is sniffing the playoffs with cap flexibility, a deep prospect pool, and key players (like Seider and Raymond) already in place. You want to throw that away because the timeline isn’t moving fast enough for you?

This isn’t NHL 24. Building a sustainable contender in the modern NHL takes time, patience, and smart decisions — not knee-jerk trades to chase a wildcard spot. Yzerman’s not perfect, but saying he “should have been fired by now” is just reactionary noise.

Funny how the guy calling for Yzerman’s job still hasn’t built a coherent take in seven years. If patience isn’t your thing, maybe hockey’s not either—try microwave popcorn.

#1 mentioning yourself in the same breath as Buffalo is not something you want to do,
That is arguably the worst run team in all of sports, not just hockey, all of sports.

And the ONLY reason I say arguably is because the New York Jets are a thing that exists.

As for Chicago they at least have Bedard, and Ottawa problems were mostly ownership based, once Ownership changed would you look at that they got better.

Are they going to make it in? I don't know but even if they don't they are a hell of a lot closer then Detroit because they actually did things to get better.

#2 Yes it does it literally has they were in a playoff spot, now they aren't even close. I know, I know you are going to say "they are only 3 points back."

On the surface that's true in reality there are 4 teams ahead of them and 2 of those teams played eachother last night and both got points you aren't close.

#3 they could have used that deadline space to get a longer term piece that actually matter instead of 2 guys on their last legs.

#4 is just correct the off season signings have been bad that's not even up for debate, sure you need vets to insulate the youth but those vets need to be able to contribute.

#5 that prospect pool is not impressive having 1 elite prospect is not good enough for the amount of time the wings have been out of the playoffs.

Matthews
Marner
Nylander
Hyman
Kapanen
Johnsson
Brown.

That's what a rebuilding prospect pool that has drafted near the top of the draft should look like.

And I know what you are going to say.

"there is a 1st overall pick there."

OK

But there is also a 4th overall pick like you.

An 8th overall pick like you

A 6th round pick

A 7th round pick

A steal of a trade with the panthers

And a guy they plucked from Pittsburgh.

Every single one them would go on to become at least a 20 goal scorer and the top 3 are MUCH better then that.

Where is your 6th or 7th rounder that becomes a 20 goal scorer for you?

you don't have it you aren't finding those late round steals that every team needs if they are going to be contenders.

Hell where is your 2nd round steal? You don't have it, you could have but passed on him his name is Matthew Knies.

Beyond the top picks Yzerman isn't good at drafting, at least not in Detroit

 

[Mr Nogatco]

So how many more times does Yzerman have to miss the playoffs before you start to go "hey this isn't f***ing working?"

He's on the verge of missing for a 6th straight year.

Is 7?

8?

10?

25?

How long does he get?

This is a valid question and one I asked last fall, no one really had an answer though.

IMO if they miss next year (year 7) the seat gets hot. If they miss year 8 I think they have to shift gears and go in a different direction.

If the pro scouting was merely competent they would’ve made the playoffs by now. They should be making a change there asap, whether that’s Chris Yzerman or not I can’t say

 

[Ulysses31]

The Walman trades should cast massive doubt alone. It's completely reasonable to believe that Walman was a personality mismatch, but giving him away for a second and then the Sharks getting a 1st for Walman the following year is terrible asset management.

Walman had a relatively small contract (3.4M) on short term (2yrs remaining) in a league with a lack of d-men. Wings should have been able to acquire a pick to ship off Walman.

who knows what happened? maybe he called larkin the N word.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Tampa's drafting has been incredible. If you cant see it i don't know what to tell you.

It was. I also think Detroit's drafting (under Yzerman) has either been incredible or has the potential to be.
The difference is you KNOW how the Tampa picks developed, but we don't yet know the full outcome of Detroit's picks.

It worked for Ottawa. Ullmark has played 49 games. It's ok to be able to try and evaluate through a lens that isn't only defensive and centric around your favorite team.

He has played 37 games?

#5 that prospect pool is not impressive having 1 elite prospect is not good enough for the amount of time the wings have been out of the playoffs.

Matthews
Marner
Nylander
Hyman
Kapanen
Johnsson
Brown.

That's what a rebuilding prospect pool that has drafted near the top of the draft should look like.

Andreas Johnsson? Currently a mediocre SHLer? That's who you're hyping as being part of that great pool?

Seriously that's not an impressive list just because some of those guys had a fluke year or two playing on Matthews wing and scoring 20. Kapanen sucks. Brown sucks. Johnsson sucks. No d-men or goalies on that list also gives some insight into why Toronto can't get out of the 1st round. Like Toronto's roster the top guys are impressive and the rest leaves a lot to be desired.

Where is your 6th or 7th rounder that becomes a 20 goal scorer for you?

you don't have it you aren't finding those late round steals that every team needs if they are going to be contenders.

Hell where is your 2nd round steal? You don't have it, you could have but passed on him his name is Matthew Knies.

Beyond the top picks Yzerman isn't good at drafting, at least not in Detroit

Knies as a 19 year old in NCAA: 33 points in 33 games
Plante as an 18 year old in NCAA: 28 points in 23 games

Emmitt Finnie is a 7th round pick who outproduced Yager, Iginla, Heidt etc. in the WHL this year.

Söderblom is a 6th round pick who has been really good this season in AHL/NHL.

Lombardi a 4th round pick contending for a call up to the NHL.

Mazur a 3rd round pick who would have been in the NHL if healthy.

Buchelnikov a 2nd round pick with one of the best U21 seasons in KHL history.

Etc.

 

[Fatass]

please explain to us how a gms is supposed to rebuild the worst 50 man depth chart in nhl , in a capped league , in 6 years when if your doing a great job drafting you might add 4 top half players / 4 bottom half / goalie while he had no chance at drafting a superstar while drafting at 4th/6th/6th . and while it being fact that if he spent long term big coin cap space on a hamilton and johnny hockey redwings are still not champs and only would have ended up drafting at later places in draft which cost them chances at excellent long term adds like kasper n dannyson ?????????? YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT ! btw , theres a nifty group of prospects coming along that are going to fill up the rest of the 4 top n 4 bottom half positions including a two headed monster in net of cossa n augusta 'the spaghetti brothers'

Teams win with their core, and the star players in that core. Wings don’t have an elite #1 D or C. Yzerman needs to either sign these guys as UFAs (rarely occurs) or trade for them. (Equally as rare) Or HE HAS TO DRAFT THEM. Which he hasn’t been able to do.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

It was. I also think Detroit's drafting (under Yzerman) has either been incredible or has the potential to be.
The difference is you KNOW how the Tampa picks developed, but we don't yet know the full outcome of Detroit's picks.


He has played 37 games?


Andreas Johnsson? Currently a mediocre SHLer? That's who you're hyping as being part of that great pool?

Seriously that's not an impressive list just because some of those guys had a fluke year or two playing on Matthews wing and scoring 20. Kapanen sucks. Brown sucks. Johnsson sucks. No d-men or goalies on that list also gives some insight into why Toronto can't get out of the 1st round. Like Toronto's roster the top guys are impressive and the rest leaves a lot to be desired.

Knies as a 19 year old in NCAA: 33 points in 33 games
Plante as an 18 year old in NCAA: 28 points in 23 games

Emmitt Finnie is a 7th round pick who outproduced Yager, Iginla, Heidt etc. in the WHL this year.

Söderblom is a 6th round pick who has been really good this season in AHL/NHL.

Lombardi a 4th round pick contending for a call up to the NHL.

Mazur a 3rd round pick who would have been in the NHL if healthy.

Buchelnikov a 2nd round pick with one of the best U21 seasons in KHL history.

Etc.

Yeah I brought up Johnsson because I was comparing the 2 teams prospect pools from when they were rebuilding and while Johnsson was here he was a 20 goal scorer.

In fact they all became at least that.

And obviously the top 3 are much better then that