Run the Jewels
Make Detroit Great Again
Note: with Yzerman giving his press conference yesterday, it seems like most of the heavy lifting has been completed. I will update this post if there are any additional moves.
Needs: In the free agency frenzy thread I asked if anyone disagreed with these as being the organizational needs and didn't see anything, so here is what we needed as we entered July 1.
Scoring line center: INC
There was only one guy available and Stamkos went for max money. Nothing wrong with that. Yzerman indicated they tried to get involved with one of the big fish but making a competitive offer would have required "major surgery". That sounds like they were seriously considering making a bid for Stamkos. Unfortunately Detroit is stuck with Copp and Compher at center until Nate Danielson and Marco Kasper are ready.
Scoring line LW: B-
There were two options available at LW, with Jeff Skinner signing the most team friendly deal after being bought out by Buffalo. Anthony Duclair signed for 4 years which is probably a bit too much term for a guy who routinely plays less than 60 games per year. A one-year deal for Skinner at $3 million would be a steal, but he preferred playing with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Can't really blame him.
Detroit did re-sign Patrick Kane and also added Vladimir Tarasenko, but that creates a log jam at RW. Between them and Jonatan Berggren, the Red Wings may be set at the wing position for both scoring lines. It's not an ideal situation, but they need to replace 63 goals lost between Gost, Perron, Sprong and Fabbri; a full season with Kane and Tarasenko should should result in somewhere between 20-25 goals for each winger.
Top pairing LD: INC
The top options appeared to be Brady Skjei and Nikita Zadorov, but the term for both was probably much longer than anything Yzerman wanted to consider. He mentioned the term players were receiving as being shocking, and both guys seem to be beneficiaries of the crazy amount of term being handed out in free agency. So like center, we are stuck with a place holder until the prospects work their way up the defensive pairings.
Second pairing RD: C-
This seems like an area where there was a deal to be had. The most obvious by far was Jakob Chychrun being acquired for a 3rd pairing d-man and a 3rd rounder. Chychrun would seem to be a great partner for Simon Edvinsson, but credit to Washington for getting the deal done.
The term Matt Roy received definitely seems like something Steve Yzerman wouldn't want to commit to and I'm not going to argue over whether Yzerman should be signing free agents to 6 or 7 year deals. Ultimately Detroit was able to get their Gost replacement when they signed Erik Gustafsson, but a combo of Chychrun and Gustafsson would have easily offset Gost's offensive production while improving the team's defense. So it feels like once again we are relying on journeymen to fill the holes until the prospects are ready to compete for ice time.
Goalie: B-
After stating that he wasn't going to carry more than 2 goalies in 2024-25, Yzerman signed Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell. So as things stand right now, Detroit has 4 goalies. We'll see how many the team actually carries during the season, but hopefully the team will not be caught short handed like they were last season when Ville Husso was injured.
Overall grade: C
Yzerman wasn't able to get anything done as far as upgrading Mo's defensive partner or signing a scoring line center. These were by far the most expensive holes to fill and Yzerman decided to stand pat. His moves to acquire Tarasenko and bring back Kane likely solidified the scoring line winger spots and will help offset some of the goalscoring lost to free agency. The right side of the defense feels like a missed opportunity, and the additions at goalkeeper are confusing given Yzerman's previous statements.
It's clear Yzerman is going to continue to pursue stopgap measures while his prospect pool matures. What that means is he'll continue to address needs by signing veterans to short term deals. While this isn't exciting, we'll find out how successful it is when the team hits the ice. With only 4 teams in the Eastern Conference surrendering more goals against than Detroit last year, the success or failure for claiming a playoff spot will likely rest on how well Detroit can keep the puck out of their own net.
Needs: In the free agency frenzy thread I asked if anyone disagreed with these as being the organizational needs and didn't see anything, so here is what we needed as we entered July 1.
- Scoring line center
- Scoring line left wing
- Top LD
- 2nd pair RD
- Goalie who can provide ~40 quality starts
Scoring line center: INC
There was only one guy available and Stamkos went for max money. Nothing wrong with that. Yzerman indicated they tried to get involved with one of the big fish but making a competitive offer would have required "major surgery". That sounds like they were seriously considering making a bid for Stamkos. Unfortunately Detroit is stuck with Copp and Compher at center until Nate Danielson and Marco Kasper are ready.
Scoring line LW: B-
There were two options available at LW, with Jeff Skinner signing the most team friendly deal after being bought out by Buffalo. Anthony Duclair signed for 4 years which is probably a bit too much term for a guy who routinely plays less than 60 games per year. A one-year deal for Skinner at $3 million would be a steal, but he preferred playing with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Can't really blame him.
Detroit did re-sign Patrick Kane and also added Vladimir Tarasenko, but that creates a log jam at RW. Between them and Jonatan Berggren, the Red Wings may be set at the wing position for both scoring lines. It's not an ideal situation, but they need to replace 63 goals lost between Gost, Perron, Sprong and Fabbri; a full season with Kane and Tarasenko should should result in somewhere between 20-25 goals for each winger.
Top pairing LD: INC
The top options appeared to be Brady Skjei and Nikita Zadorov, but the term for both was probably much longer than anything Yzerman wanted to consider. He mentioned the term players were receiving as being shocking, and both guys seem to be beneficiaries of the crazy amount of term being handed out in free agency. So like center, we are stuck with a place holder until the prospects work their way up the defensive pairings.
Second pairing RD: C-
This seems like an area where there was a deal to be had. The most obvious by far was Jakob Chychrun being acquired for a 3rd pairing d-man and a 3rd rounder. Chychrun would seem to be a great partner for Simon Edvinsson, but credit to Washington for getting the deal done.
The term Matt Roy received definitely seems like something Steve Yzerman wouldn't want to commit to and I'm not going to argue over whether Yzerman should be signing free agents to 6 or 7 year deals. Ultimately Detroit was able to get their Gost replacement when they signed Erik Gustafsson, but a combo of Chychrun and Gustafsson would have easily offset Gost's offensive production while improving the team's defense. So it feels like once again we are relying on journeymen to fill the holes until the prospects are ready to compete for ice time.
Goalie: B-
After stating that he wasn't going to carry more than 2 goalies in 2024-25, Yzerman signed Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell. So as things stand right now, Detroit has 4 goalies. We'll see how many the team actually carries during the season, but hopefully the team will not be caught short handed like they were last season when Ville Husso was injured.
Overall grade: C
Yzerman wasn't able to get anything done as far as upgrading Mo's defensive partner or signing a scoring line center. These were by far the most expensive holes to fill and Yzerman decided to stand pat. His moves to acquire Tarasenko and bring back Kane likely solidified the scoring line winger spots and will help offset some of the goalscoring lost to free agency. The right side of the defense feels like a missed opportunity, and the additions at goalkeeper are confusing given Yzerman's previous statements.
It's clear Yzerman is going to continue to pursue stopgap measures while his prospect pool matures. What that means is he'll continue to address needs by signing veterans to short term deals. While this isn't exciting, we'll find out how successful it is when the team hits the ice. With only 4 teams in the Eastern Conference surrendering more goals against than Detroit last year, the success or failure for claiming a playoff spot will likely rest on how well Detroit can keep the puck out of their own net.
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