The absolute bare-bones minimum expectation at the end of Year 6 of a general manager's tenure (let alone the supposed best GM in the game) should be a playoff appearance.
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The absolute bare-bones minimum expectation at the end of Year 6 of a general manager's tenure (let alone the supposed best GM in the game) should be a playoff appearance.
The rebuild can be classified as being a failure so far (or, at best, a thousand miles off course) if Detroit ultimately ends up missing the playoffs in Yzerman's 6th year on the job.
Again, spare me "it's not the end goal" nonsense. No team goes into their 1st playoff and goes all the way. The Red Wings absolutely must experience the harsh realities of playoff hockey in order to eventually become contendors.
The what-if game. What if Connor McDavid demands a trade to Detroit? What if Gary Bettman decrees that the next 10 1st overall picks belong to Detroit? What if Margot Robbie comes knocking on my door?
Yes I'm sure Yzerman and Ilitch are both very concerned about what a group of fans on a message board say.
It’s a very simple question my guy…
If the wings become contenders in 3 years, will you still think back to this year and say “he’s a failure!!!”
WarriorofTime
Registered User
- Jul 3, 2010
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It’s a simple enough question in theory but a bit silly to ask in reality. Obviously any team that wins the Cup set out what they hoped to accomplish. If your premise is well let’s just wait around in ten years and then we can determine then ok I suppose but discussion tends to be geared around what’s going on now and how things are “looking” so to speak. If ASP wins a Norris, Nate Danielson scores 50 goals, the Wings become a perennial contender and win a cup then sure Yzerman can have his flowers for the long game coming to fruition. Of course those types of wishing and hoping for what the kids become is really like that for any team with prospects. Similar to how currently competitive teams will hope their best player stay elite through their mid-30s and keep their window open for a long time. Rebuilding “timelines” are often fluid and often stretch across multiple GMs such that it’s harder than one might think to give all credit to just one GM because most don’t get a 15 year runaway to build a team and miss the playoff six or seven straight years. Due to the cyclical nature of the NHL, the wings should improve eventually. It’s hard not to. That doesn’t mean there aren’t very real questions about their ceiling once there and why it’s taken so long for more meaningful results than “well last year our team had 80 points, this year our team had 83 points” type of stuff.
GirardSpinorama
Registered User
- Aug 20, 2004
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If you aren't in a position to be set up for success, it really does go that way. I mean all you've done in this thread is cherry pick bullshit, move goalposts and whatabout. Yes, the couple times that's happened was because they literally were under performing during part of the year, ffs talk about cherry picking. Take a look at the teams the barely squeak in and get smoked and what their turn around is. Far more reflective than your whataboutism bullshit.
Here's the difference between us, I don't like most other teams, I rarely post anything on their threads, you clearly dislike the wings, yet you spend more time in here with your bs than what is healthy. You've been HF 2 years longer than I have and yet have over 20x as many posts... At a certain point your unhealthy behavior should be evident to you, if not, let this be the wake up call that spending this much time focusing on something you hate is not healthy.
saska sault
Registered User
Nothing indicated Washington would be the best team in the NHL this season yet here we are.
Do I expect them to win the cup in the next 3 years? No
Do I like literally a single thing Yzerman has done since the 2024 deadline? No
Is the team doomed because this arbitrary cut of “you MUST make the playoffs by year 6” otherwise it’s a complete failure? No
I don’t think Yzerman has made a single good move since the 2024 deadline. I’ve actually hated pretty much everything he’s done outside of the Seider/Raymond extensions.
But I don’t buy this theory of it was somehow a critical and necessary thing to make the post season by year 6 just to get demolished in the 1st round.
If he improves next season and they’re competitive in the 1st round or even better yet wins a round, what happened this season is entirely irrelevant to the long term.
If they suck again next season then yeah he deserves a kick to the curb
cvaicunas
Registered User
- Aug 25, 2021
- 640
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Plenty of fans have suggested Ed may have the higher ceiling, as he was the more toolsy prospect. In regards to if that happens or not, your guess is as good as mine.
HockeyVirus
Woll stan.
- Nov 15, 2020
- 15,895
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What have the Wings ever shown to suggest they can sniff being a contender? Closer to being the next Buffalo IMO
Yzerman's primary talent so far appears to be in the substantial lowering of Detroit fans' expectations.
theVladiator
Registered User
- May 26, 2018
- 1,102
- 1,209
Why would I be sending postcards to an HFboards troll?
I've not moved the goalposts once. That would be everyone else who tries to excuse Steve Yzerman's woefully underwhelming term as Detroit GM with "just wait for the kids", "his first 3 years don't really count", "oh so you think you know better?".
Better idea - take a look at this.
That's where you're wrong, kiddo.
What's next?
"You know they don't care what their paying customers think of their underwhelming product either, right?"
Maybe they'll start to care when their bottom line starts getting hurt when fans decide that they shouldn't invest in them anymore if their goal is to endlessly kick the can down the road rather than get serious about winning.
WarriorofTime
Registered User
- Jul 3, 2010
- 27,645
- 15,500
I think you’re getting a bit bogged down in semantics. Of course being competitive in a playoff series would be a better result than getting swept in round 1. You’re focusing pretty heavily on the “swept in round 1” hypothetical. Yes “make the playoffs” can be a bit of a shorthand in a binary “pass/fail” setting which doesn’t 100% reflect reality and nobody is throwing parades from teams that get stomped out of the first round in multiple years. Especially if they quickly regress back to bad. The bigger picture is becoming a “playoff team” is a meaningful step where teams transform their rebuilds into competitive windows. It is rare to make the cup finals in a core group’s first postseason appearance so those tend to be the building blocks.
Another way to ask, what is meaningfully better for the wings future rebuild about narrowly missing the playoffs and picking 10th-16th or whatever than narrowly making the playoffs. Especially when people discuss “playing competitive hockey” and what not. In such a case, isn’t there at least the feeling of accomplishment and signal around the league that would come from clearing that (somewhat arbitrary) “in the playoffs” threshold than missing it while still missing out on the top draft selections?
Golden_Jet
Registered User
- Sep 21, 2005
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cvaicunas
Registered User
- Aug 25, 2021
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Not sure I agree with the Dcat opinion. Not to mention it's not 8 mil. The guy is a 30-40 goal scorer. People are talking about Bennet getting 8-9 mil this coming FA and he's a 40-45 pt player. What do you think he is worth?
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