Detroit isn't where they want to be, but honestly, given where they were in 2019 when Yzerman took over, anyone who expected a quick turnaround wasn't realistic unless you thought Veleno, Zadina, Chlorowski and co. were going to be good NHLers.
Going to when Yzerman took over, wings have missed the PO as long as SJ has and SJ is likely a bottom 3 team for this season and next most likely. Anaheim has missed PO 1 season more, and they are coming off a worst and 3rd worst finish in years 5/6 of missing PO. Chicago made the covid PO in 2020 and missed since. 4 straight for them and still another couple to maybe a few more seasons without PO on the horizon for them. Signed some vets to bridge the gap between now and their prospects.
Feels like most hated the signings from 2 off-seasons ago. Were they intended to turn the Wings around? Unlikely. Similar to Chicago, they were made to bridge the gap. It's the price to pay when bad teams try to sign veterans. Have to overpay to convince players to sign there. Guys with options with sign elsewhere most of the time unless the contract compensates for the losing. Unlike what happened for Yzerman in TB, they didn't land a Point, Cirelli, via the draft post round 1 and he hasn't made an altering trade like getting Cernak and Sergachev.