i'm not convinced you're wrong, but I thought Yzerman's end-of-season comments were interesting. basically indicated that GR's flaws were on himself and Horcoff for not stacking GR with enough depth and that the issues are not on coaching.
of course, he's unlikely to say any differently when put on the spot about it, with two games left on GR's schedule (i think that presser was Friday). i certainly wouldn't be surprised if a change was made next week, after exit interviews.
for some devil's advocate though, if Yzerman does believe what he said, the evaluation will come down how players are developing and not necessarily the record. and, to Simon's credit, Berggren had a successful adjustment to North America, both in point production and how he plays (he's more willing to go into traffic than he was when he came over). Edvinsson was just ok in preseason, but once he was recalled, he looked like a lock for next year's roster. Yzerman has gone out of his way multiple times to praise Johansson especially, McIsaac to a lesser degree. Hanas was becoming a bit of an afterthought (to me, at least) and was pretty impactful when healthy. Viro has come alive in the last month.
i didn't watch too many of their games in the first half, but have been tuning in more in the second half once the Wings season went downhill. they are stuck playing way too many guys who are just not AHL caliber -- Worrad, Bliss, Tyutyayev, Sawchuk, Barton, Andreasson. Pearson hasn't been right all year. Weatherby is terrible. also results in some of their depth players like Shine and Spezia who are both fine on the 4th line, having to play 2nd line minutes because there are no better options. Spezia's even playing D tonight. no coach is winning with this roster, and it's been like this for the better part of the last two months.
and goaltending just blew up in everyone's face. Olkinoura had elite KHL numbers but is one of the worst goalies i've ever seen at this level. Brattstrom took a big step back from last year. Nedeljkovic steadied the ship for a bit, but wasn't stealing games. and it definitely wasn't worth throwing Cossa into this mess.
i'm not necessarily for or against a coaching change, but i'm just not seeing it as the same certainty as some others. they have to provide more depth and real goalies next season for whoever's in charge.
