Is Steve Yzerman an above average GM?

[StickShift]

Steve Yzerman used with be with ‘it’
But then they changed what ‘it’ was
Now what Steve Yzerman is with isn’t ‘it’ anymore
And what is ‘it’ is strange and scary to Steve Yzerman
And it’ll happen to Chris MacFarland, Kyle Dubas, and Julien BriseBois too!

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Every "genius" GM that "builds" a consistent contender is the beneficiary of getting cheap, and often elite, talent outside the 1st round. A string of good luck. Because cheap NHL talent means you have cap space and assets to spend on free agents and trades. Lack of it, and you have to pay mid players like Holl and Chariot bloated deals until the end of time rather than filling out your roster with said cheap, young talent. Let alone getting an elite player like Datsyuk or Kucherov or Duncan Keith or Bergeron or Aho/Slavin outside the 1st round.

Not a single franchise has found out how to make this consistent. It's entirely luck based.

Yzerman has fallen into the standard GM dance at the helm of a mediocre ship: run around plugging holes and tweaking the engine and hope that everything goes right for just long enough that it works.

 

[Seider and Donuts]

He absolutely deserves recognition for what he built in Tampa and for moves like drafting Seider. But the last 2 free agencies have been horrid. Spending over 11 million on Chiarot, Holl, and Maatta should be enough to get you fired

Tell me you haven't watched Maatta without telling me.

The other two, bash away.

Steve Yzerman used with be with ‘it’
But then they changed what ‘it’ was
Now what Steve Yzerman is with isn’t ‘it’ anymore
And what is ‘it’ is strange and scary to Steve Yzerman
And it’ll happen to Chris MacFarland, Kyle Dubas, and Julien BriseBois too!

Kyle Dubas has never been "It" to anybody but stat boys lol.

 

[centipede2233]

One thing to factor is ownership. I have a feeling ownership wants to win now more then later which would explain diving into the free agent pool head first like he has

 

[EdJovanovski]

Best GM in the league. These results are insane.

 

[Seider and Donuts]

One thing to factor is ownership. I have a feeling ownership wants to win now more then later which would explain diving into the free agent pool head first like he has

If ownership were directing Yzerman to be in "Win now" mode, Debrincat would be a Red Wing and we wouldn't have made all 5 of our Top 50 picks lol.

 

[centipede2233]

If ownership were directing Yzerman to be in "Win now" mode, Debrincat would be a Red Wing and we wouldn't have made all 5 of our Top 50 picks lol.

Maybe yzerman was hanging out with shanahan at the cabin smoking cigars and drinking expensive whiskey and being influenced by the shanaplan in how wonderful it is lol

 

[EXTRAS]

Just wait for edvinsson he's a beast

 

[thethirdhockeyman91]

Best GM in the league. These results are insane.

yes Yzerman is always playing 4d chess like Putin.

 

[Goptor]

He's certainly among the highest career point earners among GMs.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I thought he was a wizard in Tampa but his time in Detroit has been kinda head scratching

He secretly hates Detroit but doesn’t even know it himself. His signings are reflections of his feelings for the city. He smokes away the pain, but every day he misses the sunshine he wonders why, why did he leave Tampa?

 

[pelderhostiga]

Yzerman is definitely an above average GM. And it's not because he's particularly good or special, but because the average GM in the league is pretty bad.

 

[Nabrules]

too many people give him credit for brisebois work.

Brisebois is just as awful lmao

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Eh. He would’ve made the playoffs if goalie play were good. I’d say he’s above average

 

[jfrank21]

Hmm, checks notes...3 forwards signed for more than 3 seasons from now (Larkin, Copp, and Compher) and 3 defensemen signed for more than 2 seasons from now (Walman, Chiarot, and Holl). I fail to see how this leaves him cap strapped and on the level of Jim Benning. Every single first round pick he's made prior to this draft (with the Wings) is tracking to make the show, and each one has already played at least one game. Seider won the Calder, Raymond was a close runner up. Edvinsson is entering his 3rd year post draft and will get good playing time at some point this season.

So somehow, despite today "being a head scratcher" and him "losing his mind," he was able to fill out his roster with players who should be at least as good as the players they replaced, still have over 9 million in cap space for this season, make 2 more solid 1st round picks this year and has 2 more 1sts next year. Yep, he's awful

 

[Hodge]

He's really bad at winning draft lotteries and subsequently satisfying possibly delusional idealists who believe you can reliably win in this league without draft lottery help.

It's funny because the GMs most people here would probably rank as "the best GMs" probably all have a lottery superstar or two on their rosters.

Which draft lottery did Vegas win?

Imagine if Yzerman had traded a 2022 1st, Edvinsson and Vrana for Jack Eichel in fall of 2021. He would have been killed for it by Wings fans and most HF posters in general. But right now the Wings could be looking at a top six featuring Eichel, Larkin, Bertuzzi and Raymond with Seider and Hronek on defense. Maybe not a Cup contender overnight but not that far away either.

It didn't have to be Eichel but at some point Yzerman needs to take a swing. The point of collecting so many high draft picks shouldn't necessarily be to have them play on your team. It should really be about maximizing them as assets.

 

[dirtydanglez]

Brisebois is just as awful lmao

yea the recent 2 time cup winner is horrible.

 

[Pavels Dog]

I don't understand if you are saying you are a rebuilding team then why make these long term commitments?

They have 3 players signed beyond 25-26. Some of ya'll talking like they're sitting there with the entire roster full of 7 year contracts.

 

[Sam de Mtl]

It doesn't really matter what he has done in FA. What will be of importance is how Seider, Edvinsson, Wallinder, etc develop on defense and how Kasper and Danielson develop on offense. Cossa at GK too. If those guys reach their full potential, this GM will be good. If they don't, he will suck.

Maybe he thinks Seider will develop better with some decent vets around.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

He's made *some* good trades in the past. His FA signings look to be atrocious though. A lot harder to get players to come and play in Detroit than it is in Tampa with no tax eh? Love seeing those 'don't pick up the phone if Yzerman is calling' crowd just go deafly quiet over the past couple of years. If this was Detroit's 'rebuild' then all you can say is yikes. A lot of money for a lot of years of very mid players.

 

[WaW]

Which draft lottery did Vegas win?

Imagine if Yzerman had traded a 2022 1st, Edvinsson and Vrana for Jack Eichel in fall of 2021. He would have been killed for it by Wings fans and most HF posters in general. But right now the Wings could be looking at a top six featuring Eichel, Larkin, Bertuzzi and Raymond with Seider and Hronek on defense. Maybe not a Cup contender overnight but not that far away either.

It didn't have to be Eichel but at some point Yzerman needs to take a swing. The point of collecting so many high draft picks shouldn't necessarily be to have them play on your team. It should really be about maximizing them as assets.

Oh boy. I'm really sorry for pointing out this glaring error you made, but Jack Eichel was a lottery pick.

Maybe you're strawmanning, I'll let you admit to that instead if that's the case, but otherwise you'll have to point out where I said "you have to win the draft lottery" because I quite clearly and obviously said "GMs with a lottery pick or two on their rosters"

In case you're new to hockey and weren't aware of this (for which Id feel bad because its not at all my intention to "dunk" on newer fans, as they're necessary for the growth of the game), Vegas couldn't get past the finish line before. Then they got a franchise centerman and former lottery pick who demanded a trade and was only willing to go to a handful of teams who were competitive, and won.

All good though, now you know for next time

 

[Nabrules]

yea the recent 2 time cup winner is horrible.

Make no mistake about it, that team was build by SY and Al Murray. It’s not too difficult to make over payments like brisebois does to get 3rd liners to push a team over the top

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

Hmm, checks notes...3 forwards signed for more than 3 seasons from now (Larkin, Copp, and Compher) and 3 defensemen signed for more than 2 seasons from now (Walman, Chiarot, and Holl). I fail to see how this leaves him cap strapped and on the level of Jim Benning. Every single first round pick he's made prior to this draft (with the Wings) is tracking to make the show, and each one has already played at least one game. Seider won the Calder, Raymond was a close runner up. Edvinsson is entering his 3rd year post draft and will get good playing time at some point this season.

So somehow, despite today "being a head scratcher" and him "losing his mind," he was able to fill out his roster with players who should be at least as good as the players they replaced, still have over 9 million in cap space for this season, make 2 more solid 1st round picks this year and has 2 more 1sts next year. Yep, he's awful

He's failed to weaponize his cap space effectively. That's the problem. He should be taking on cap dumps and flipping the picks for useful, younger players. Instead he wastes the cap space on average/below average players and gives them term.

 

[dirtydanglez]

Make no mistake about it, that team was build by SY and Al Murray. It’s not too difficult to make over payments like brisebois does to get 3rd liners to push a team over the top

if that was the case yzerman would already have several cups. if it was easy why didnt he do it.

 

[Nabrules]

if that was the case yzerman would have already have several cups. if it was easy why didnt he do it.

Yea becuase TB won really quickly right? Their rebuild started in 2008 and the won 12 years later.