So Larkin Made Some Interesting Comments.

I don't think we need a strategy reset. I think the strategy is going to inherently shift as the pipeline fills out and more of the holes on the team are filled internally. We're finally rounding the bend and getting to that point, imo. Doesn't mean deals are going to be there to be made, but we can finally look at dealing some of this without then looking at the pipeline and going, "well, damn, now there's nothing coming up for the next two years."

Though I'm not sure the high floor guys are taking that long. Is third year after their draft really that long for a guy like Kasper? Or what we're expecting of Nate? Or ASP? MBN sort of screwed his own pooch there imo, but I don't think it'd be surprising if he is up and sticks at some point this season.
I am not into resetting the pool, but what I am saying is the wait and see is getting a little stagnant at times. He has sat through his last couple press conferences talking about being heavier, being more competitive. I have listed what you said at times on why I am not interested in giving up on Yzerman a big part of his plan is arriving. I would like to see him trust that more in roster spots and callups when we are in a rough patch though too. I get that Mazur unfortunately went down on his, but we waited too long on Ed last year. We waited too long on LaLonde. When you pick the two way complete guys as a hallmark, the I don't trust young players is tough. It is especially tough when the young players held up their end of the bargain this year especially under McLellan. Now he himself doesn't have a huge record with youth as LA fans would warn, but I think we need to plot these roster spots better and be more aggressive with some of the youth. I think he needs to be more decisive at times in terms of Yzerman. I get it takes two to tango, but not all these guys are going to play for us, start prioritizing assets and getting looks earlier.
 
Doing nothing but signing more replacement level players and running back this roster would be the definition of insanity.

It’s either trade Larkin and DeBrincat and tank, or spend assets and get better. They can’t add enough rookies to get rid of the dead weight like Tank, Compher, Ras, Petry, Holl, Gus, Berggren, Motte. This team needs to make some trades and sign at least 2 of the impact free agents this year.
Or maybe , if it is possible trade Larkin for top pair defansman , trade Cat and bring prospects. This way you are tanking , but not for long, no more than 2 more years.by that time Edvinsson, Seider and Raymond will be in their prime and we have chance for top prospect in 2026
 
If he doesn’t say it in a press conference it’s easy to ignore. I want Yzerman to feel the pressure so he actually does something.

I understand that you think Yzerman has done nothing. If Larkin has that same opinion and thinks the only way to get the GM to "do something" is by complaining about it at a press conference, they should trade him ASAP, fire Yzerman, and clean house for another rebuild because the franchise is incredibly dysfunctional.
 
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I would've preferred he not say it in a press conference but I agree that people will isolate it and people are going to make a bigger deal out of it than it probably is (including me).

My main thing is he seems like a seriously broken dude in his press conference. I hope he gets back to a place where he's fired up and hungry again by October.
He admitted how much he puts into it. Lost in the everyone loves the Kane portion being nicer on the deadline, is surely the part where he glowingly talked about Larkin the leader and how much he pours himself into the team for the city and organization. Now I don't know if it is because he just heard Larks talk and was saving him a little, but Kane went to bat pretty heavily in his for Larkin as a leader and captain.

I think he will find it. I also found it interesting how much they talked about leadership with the group they kept talking to everyone. Again not sure if this was because the order they were talking to people.

They were all pretty glowing on McLellan is one of the bigger takeaways when you see them all as a whole.
 
Or maybe , if it is possible trade Larkin for top pair defansman , trade Cat and bring prospects. This way you are tanking , but not for long, no more than 2 more years.by that time Edvinsson, Seider and Raymond will be in their prime and we have chance for top prospect in 2026
You won't tank with the three young players you name at the end along with Kasper at anywhere but attendance. You still are drafting in likely a similar area, remember how bad we were in the bottom five. There was the year where we got Raymond in the draft and Zadina was what our third leading scorer. We just simply aren't going to be that bad either unless we play Holl 25 minutes a night.
 
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I get were frustrated at missing the Playoffs, but some of these takes are woof.

People say Larkin cant show up when it matters, but he was one of the MVP's of the 4 Nation tournament, to the point where he got hurt and it was evident the remainder of the season. And its a no win situation, cause people are saying he shouldn't have even played in it our whatever but at the time, thats the closest he'd could get to an Olympic style tournament. It sucks he got hurt, but he tried to put the team on his back down the stretch and physically couldn't. And if he sat out, people would still be questioning his leadership or toughness or whatever.

I see both sides of the argument though. Larkin probably shouldn't have made these comments publicly like this, but I also get his frustration. This offseason is going to be the most important in Yzerman's tenure here as GM, Stevie said it himself that he expected a potential wildcard spot and to me this is the first year in the Yzerplan that Detroit took a step back and didn't make any real progress (outside of some of the youth making an impact).
 
Huge Larkin fan and I do think he is a bit underrated around the league but I do agree this was out of line and I'm sure Yzerman is not happy about it. I really dont think he's captain material anymore, always so mopey and disappears when it's his job to lead the guys. With that being said this makes the off season that much more interesting. Does Yzerman make some big moves, does Larkin himself get moved?
 
Debrincat is the only significant move I can think of other than trading Mantha, Bert and Hronek. His FA signings have been fairly underwhelming and none were higher end pieces.
if yzerman had signed better ufa all it would have done is get a weak roster into playoffs to be crushed as theres too many holes to be filled and create a serious contender still . and the cost for that little joy ride would have been drafting further back in the past several drafts . and the nhl isnt like other sports where theres very good players avaliable after the first half of 1st round , in nhl they gone ! thusly missing playoffs n drafting 10th instead of making playoffs n drafting 18th could get a team a very good player . not to mention a team has to commit long term cap space to the better ufa who will soon be past prime in their careers ! leaving a gm with a mediocre player and not enough cap to sign his own excellent draftee's . yzermans doing a total rebuild in effort to create a decade long top contender that has a chance every playoffs at the big hardware
 
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If he doesn’t say it in a press conference it’s easy to ignore. I want Yzerman to feel the pressure so he actually does something.
He will only feel pressure if he believes in Larkin. Otherwise, it is just another set back in his rebuild. Sort of like Cholowski, Rasmussen, Veleno, and Zadina.
 
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It is always interesting to me when people around here want to trade players while their value is relatively low. People want major change but want to sacrifice total asset value at the same time. Why? Trading Larkin would bring back a Larkin or less, but a truly major move like trading Seider would bring in a king's ransom.
 
You won't tank with the three young players you name at the end along with Kasper at anywhere but attendance. You still are drafting in likely a similar area, remember how bad we were in the bottom five. There was the year where we got Raymond in the draft and Zadina was what our third leading scorer. We just simply aren't going to be that bad either unless we play Holl 25 minutes a night.
This team without Larkin, Cat and Kane and with Lombardi, Mazur and Danielson will draft top 5 in 2026. And yes let Tarasenko and Holl play as much as possible, remember only for one season
 
This team without Larkin, Cat and Kane and with Lombardi, Mazur and Danielson will draft top 5 in 2026. And yes let Tarasenko and Holl play as much as possible, remember only for one season
We are more likely to win the Marner sweepstakes than what you’re proposing in my opinion. Also Larkin and Cat bring back roster players so put the lesser players on the roster.
 
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It is always interesting to me when people around here want to trade players while their value is relatively low. People want major change but want to sacrifice total asset value at the same time. Why? Trading Larkin would bring back a Larkin or less, but a truly major move like trading Seider would bring in a king's ransom.
Larkin probably now top10-15 center in the NHL.
 
Larkin probably now top10-15 center in the NHL.
When he is productive and uninjured, maybe, but I don't think so. I don't see anyone backing up the Brinks truck for him when his physical ability to finish several rounds of playoffs is questionable.
 
I get were frustrated at missing the Playoffs, but some of these takes are woof.

People say Larkin cant show up when it matters, but he was one of the MVP's of the 4 Nation tournament, to the point where he got hurt and it was evident the remainder of the season. And its a no win situation, cause people are saying he shouldn't have even played in it our whatever but at the time, thats the closest he'd could get to an Olympic style tournament. It sucks he got hurt, but he tried to put the team on his back down the stretch and physically couldn't. And if he sat out, people would still be questioning his leadership or toughness or whatever.

I see both sides of the argument though. Larkin probably shouldn't have made these comments publicly like this, but I also get his frustration. This offseason is going to be the most important in Yzerman's tenure here as GM, Stevie said it himself that he expected a potential wildcard spot and to me this is the first year in the Yzerplan that Detroit took a step back and didn't make any real progress (outside of some of the youth making an impact).
Showing up in exhibition hockey doesn’t matter. Hes disappeared down the stretch with Detroit multiple times.
 
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We locked up our core guys at good contracts. I am sure this is also a part of Larkin’s annoyance. You fought me tooth and nail in my contract negotiations and told me it would help us get better… we have three very good contracts at the top of our depth chart, DeBrincat and Kane also have very good contracts for their offensive production. Go get more guys to help and if the failure is with your brother and the other pro scouts welp time to clean house.

I will wait to see what Yzerman says but I am not on board with a quiet summer at all. I said as much at the deadline, I was willing to go with the prices were too high and I need my assets at the draft. Well you have them do something, I feel like the kid in the Incredibles at this point with Yzerman because we have given him the time. If we need a total rebuild, step into your advisory role upstairs. But I am not cool at all with another strange summer and it is why I have much less of a problem with what Larkin did. Somebody needed to say it that has clout in the market.
I am not talking about cap space. This isn't free agency we are talking about. I am talking about the assets we need to part with to make these trades happen. I agree that the off season should have more trade partners than the deadline (though I feel like I say that every year). It still, however, isn't easy and there will be competition.
 
Larkin is our Duchene for the Avs before they got good it happens in every rebuild cycle don’t be married to mid players
It kind of amazes me this franchise could lose 15 out of 20 games to miss out on the playoffs last year and Larkin gets zero criticism as team captain. None. Hey, he looked great at some glorified scrimmage!! Literally DGAF, I want him to stop whining and lead the Red Wings or GTFO.
 
He’s speaking like someone who may want out. No sugar coating the situation. You don’t make comments like that unless you’re not happy with the organization you’re in.
Ever since his '8 Mile' bro Bert was traded traded it seems DBoss hasn't been the happiest of campers.

The roster revolving door appears to be wearing thin...Idiots behind the bench (Blashill and Lalonde) have only made things worse.

Chances of Larking playing another game in the postseason is looking pretty slim while in Detroit.
 
Yzerman has built one of the best prospect pools in the entire NHL. Yzerman spent $116 million during free agency in 2022 and 2023 to give precious Dylan a shot at playoff hockey. Team was in 6th place, 4 points behind Toronto and Carolina on Feb 28, 2024.

Dylan bottles a playoff spot in 2024 by captaining a team that lost 15 of 20 games from Feb 29-Apr 11, 2024. Yzerman replaces coach and hires a coach who has coached over 1,000 games and taken three other franchises to the playoffs.

Dylan cries and whines that all of this is not enough and people on here lap up his cringe comments like it's some sort of impressive leadership. I mean Larkin is whining about 4th round draft picks. He's an embarrassment.
Not trying to defend Larkin here, but Yzerman has made his fair share of questionable moves...
 
When he is productive and uninjured, maybe, but I don't think so. I don't see anyone backing up the Brinks truck for him when his physical ability to finish several rounds of playoffs is questionable.
His contract is pretty good. I think you need to look at which teams can really afford to chase him and why. The couple of leading contenders I think he would consider waiving for, LA and NY Rangers in terms of packages that I find intriguing if they were really to be ready to move on from young players. I still would find it insane if LA was willing to move Byfield, but if they get dumped Edmonton again? Are Lafreniere or K'andre Miller available with their first in New York? If Vancouver is moving on from EP40 again this would be risky.

I don't think with his contract he doesn't return something great. But how many markets is Larkin willing to go to. Like is Minnesota for instance even something he would consider or some of the other teams I can be seen thrown around and then what do they have.

I still have a hard time believing he wants to waive right now.
 
Not trying to defend Larkin here, but Yzerman has made his fair share of questionable moves...
Not suggesting Yzerman is perfect, just replying to the suggestion that Yzerman has been sitting on his hands doing nothing while expecting the legendary Dylan Larkin to carry the franchise. The more I think about this, the more preposterous it gets. Dylan f***ing Larkin is talking s**t. And people are defending him. Unreal.
 
I understand that you think Yzerman has done nothing. If Larkin has that same opinion and thinks the only way to get the GM to "do something" is by complaining about it at a press conference, they should trade him ASAP, fire Yzerman, and clean house for another rebuild because the franchise is incredibly dysfunctional.
I'm beginning to think there's in house dysfunction...Larkin seems burnt out...Why is that?
 
Not suggesting Yzerman is perfect, just replying to the suggestion that Yzerman has been sitting on his hands doing nothing while expecting the legendary Dylan Larkin to carry the franchise. The more I think about this, the more preposterous it gets. Dylan f***ing Larkin is talking s**t. And people are defending him. Unreal.
What moves has Yzerman done to make this a better club?
 

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