Where did Yzerman go wrong with the rebuild?

[dalem177]

Where exactly did Yzerman go wrong since taking over? I thought it would be good to have a centralized location for these discussions. It is very clear that some think we should already be back in the playoffs at this point.

Here is the roster he inherited:

Detroit Red Wings 2018-19 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com

The roster, scoring and goaltender statistics for the 2018-19 Detroit Red Wings playing in the NHL.

www.hockeydb.com

One day in 1965, Steve Yzerman skated out of his mother's 5-hole and decided he wanted to be the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. This has made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move. *

After a few decades that involved losing some teeth to a drinking bout with Mickey Redmond, getting his orbital bone fractured after playfully ripping Kenny Daniels' mustache off on a dare, sawing his own leg in half to prove a point about particle physics to Sean Avery, and also some few games of hockeyball, Yzerman (known as "Stevie Y" for the constant stream of demands of "Stevie, WHY would you ever DO that?!?!?" from various teammates and coaches and opponents throughout his career) settled his sights on Florida.

The state of Florida is kindof shaped like a drooping wang, and Yzerman decided that it was a fine place to hone his appreciation for sports talk radio fans and their wannabe suck-ups - internet forum denizens. After a few years of helping build a Cup-winning team, Yzerman changed his name to YzerPlan and moved to Detroit to take over his old team.

And destroy it.

Since becoming GM of the Red Wings, YzerPlan has been seen/rumored to have

• Paid Justin Abdelkader millions of dollars to stay in Switzerland. Probably because of that thing that happened when they never played together.
• Made the city of Detroit the butt of jokes and a less-then-desirable place to raise a family for prospective players.
• Created a cartel specifically designed to raise the price of octopi in Wayne County and keep it there.
• Calmed the feuds between Eminem, Kid Rock, and Insane Clown Posse, and therefore making the rock-rap/hick-hop/magnets-how-do-they-work world that much more boring.
• Steadily increased the points-per-season max and playoff viability of the Red Wings without overspending too much.
• Failed to do anything about that one gal at the Deja Vu in Ypsilanti.

Devoted fans of "the YzerPlan", as he insists on being called, are usually seen slack-jawed and drooling, shuffling in circles whilst fondling much-creased pamphlets entitled "Road to the Cup 2007 - 2008". Rumors abound that these poor souls are drained of their blood each night to feed the ever-increasing hunger of McCartferatu, The YzerPlan's most devoted and vocal servant.

However it ends for The YzerPlan - in glory or in shame - the hockeyball world can rest assured that every dark twist and turn, every buttery nook and cranny, will be examined with electron microscopes here, on this very forum; the very opposite of "hush-hush, and on the Q T."

- Plausible Keats

* Thank you, Douglas Adams.

 

[Fynn]

I guess what has frustrated me most these past two seasons, is the Wings being in playoff contention late into the season, ultimately not making it, and Yzerman and Lalonde just kinda shrug it off. Meh, we're not good enough. We didn't expect to make it anyway. WTF?

Other random thoughts...
I don't think getting a quality free agent instead of a half dozen bit players hurts the rebuild. I'd take a Stamkos 4/32 over a Copp and Holl.
DeBrincat has to show up for more than 2 or 3 weeks of the season with his contract.
Not sure Kane will be able to repeat his season from a year ago.
Need better team defense. If you're going to go with "character" veterans, they need to be plus players.
I don't think anyone expects a Cup right now, but they need to start giving these players (and young fans) the taste of playoff hockey.
Steve Yzerman has done some good things and not good things. Both things can be true.

 

[Air Budd Dwyer]

I guess what has frustrated me most these past two seasons, is the Wings being in playoff contention late into the season, ultimately not making it, and Yzerman and Lalonde just kinda shrug it off. Meh, we're not good enough. We didn't expect to make it anyway. WTF?

Other random thoughts...
I don't think getting a quality free agent instead of a half dozen bit players hurts the rebuild. I'd take a Stamkos 4/32 over a Copp and Holl.
DeBrincat has to show up for more than 2 or 3 weeks of the season with his contract.
Not sure Kane will be able to repeat his season from a year ago.
Need better team defense. If you're going to go with "character" veterans, they need to be plus players.
I don't think anyone expects a Cup right now, but they need to start giving these players (and young fans) the taste of playoff hockey.
Steve Yzerman has done some good things and not good things. Both things can be true.

I think in order for Detroit to sign a player like Stamkos, it was going to cost more than what Nashville paid him. 4 at 8m per year doesn't sound awful but the Wings aren't at that stage yet to be paying big money to big names. I'd wager for Stamkos to sign here, it would've cost more term and cash.

I like playoff hockey but I don't like squeaking in just to get bounced within 5 games. We experienced that at the end of Holland's run and I'd like to avoid that feeling if possible.

 

[OurlordAndSaviorKuch]

Even as an outsider this feels like a very premature thread. Wings have improved year over year. Some really poor draft lottery luck and not the strongest drafts doesn’t mean your rebuild has failed or it’s gone wrong.

 

[Wingz456383]

He's doing the best he can with what he has, for better or worse. He is definitely not perfect and I think there are points of contention worth discussion, i.e. his free agency. I wonder if, and I know this has affected me in my tolerance for rebuilds, is the state of Michigan sports as a whole. The professional teams here have been bad-to-awful for near or past a decade each. The Lions only recently have turned the corner but before then it has been a slog, the escapism hasn't been fun. No rebuilds are the same I understand but being subjected to them can be a lot to take (though you are not forced to watch).

 

[Austrianwing]

Sure, I hear you. And not to sound like a jerk, because I genuinely do get where you’re coming from, but at any point along that dynamic and nebulous journey do you think it’s fair to recalibrate our expectations to be part of the 50% of NHL teams that make the playoffs?

I think there should be a degree of fluidity to expectations for any executive, but the buck has to stop somewhere in my view. I don’t think any executive should have carte blanche, and imo never defining a timeline for success is essentially carte blanche. But again smart people disagree here I get where people are coming from.

Careful you two... You keep this up and you'll end up sounding like people constructively debating differing viewpoints to arrive at a reasonable adjustment to planning.

 

[Euro Twins]

Next off season when we sign draisaitl the rebuild will officially be over. And the cup ours

 

[nbwingsfan]

This, so far, has been the first offseason I feel we have regressed instead of moving forward.

Me too. I’ve been so on board for 95% of what he’s done up until this past deadline. Every move since, and including, the deadline has been a complete head scratcher for me

 

[Fynn]

I think in order for Detroit to sign a player like Stamkos, it was going to cost more than what Nashville paid him. 4 at 8m per year doesn't sound awful but the Wings aren't at that stage yet to be paying big money to big names. I'd wager for Stamkos to sign here, it would've cost more term and cash.

I like playoff hockey but I don't like squeaking in just to get bounced within 5 games. We experienced that at the end of Holland's run and I'd like to avoid that feeling if possible.

Totally disagree. I don't think it's miss the playoffs for 10+ years and off to the SCF. Baby steps.
What's so special about Nashville that he took less to go there? In any event, not saying it specifically had to be Stamkos, but for comparison purposes. Just saying that often times, some fans thought process is oh well, that guy isn't great, but he's only 4 million a year, he blows, but only a 3 million cap hit, but balk at signing one guy for 8 million.

 

[Austrianwing]

plurium interrogationum

 

[Shaman464]

The one thing I really don’t like and feel has hurt Detroit is Draper as head of scouting. Detroit is going to be a hard bubble team to play against, but this team still lacks the elite talent needed to take the next step.

 

[ShanahanMan]

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

View attachment 891667

Thank god for the Lions.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Thank god for the Lions.

Thankfully he got rid of Ken Holland.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Thankfully he got rid of Ken Holland.

I may be straying a bit off topic here, but I think Chris Illitch is very, very fortunate that Yzerman fell into his lap when he did. The Tigers were dire under Avila. It’s not looking phenomenal under Harris. Payroll hasn’t been underwhelming, and much of that has been tied up in Cabrera and Baez. Not a great decade for Tigers fans.

The District Detroit has not gotten built.

I have no ill will towards Ken Holland. But if the ‘17 and ‘18 drafts were an indication of the direction his rebuild would’ve taken us, I don’t think it would’ve been pretty. Despite the Wings on-ice performance looking awful under Yzerman, he’s tenure here and in Tampa has I think bought the team (and the Illitches by extent) a lot more patience than fans would’ve had for Ken Holland (also the irony of saying that fans are patient with Yzerman in this particular thread is not lost on me).

If Detroit fans had to sit through Avila and Holland rebuilds simultaneously, I think Illitch takes a lot more heat. However much he pays Yzerman is probably still not enough consider the PR buffer that he provides.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I don't follow the Tigers, so I can't say too much other than those who do seem to despise Avila. I don't know too much about Scott Harris but it sounds like he comes from a respectable background.

 

[Ricelund]

I don't know too much about Scott Harris but it sounds like he comes from a respectable background.

That's all there really is to say about the guy.

 

[Fil Larkmanthanasiou]

Should have tanked for one more year for a shot at Bedard, Fantilli or Michkov

 

[Run the Jewels]

Should have tanked for one more year for a shot at Bedard, Fantilli or Michkov

The playoffs NOW crew would be very upset. We should be in the playoffs, not tanking.

 

[The Zermanator]

Yzerman hasn't gone wrong with the rebuild. That's an adequate answer on its own since the original premise is baseless, but I'll elaborate.

First off, if we're asking why the team hasn't made the playoffs 5 years into Yzerman's tenure, as if he should have achieved that by now, we have to consider the state of the team he assumed control of in 2019. It would be unrealistic (and a little delusional) to expect the team to trend upwards from the moment he took control. The prospect cupboard was bare, the roster was overloaded with mediocrity, and they were saddled by several bad contracts. He wasn't starting from zero, he was starting from -100, and had to dig out of the hole before he could climb upward.

Years 1-3 were mostly focused on running out the clock on the bad contracts, and selling off the pieces that had value and didn't have a future in Detroit (Mantha, Athanasiou, etc.). All the while absolutely knocking it out of the park at the draft, despite horrid lottery luck. His first 3 drafts resulted in Seider, Raymond, and Edvinsson/Cossa. Tremendous. He also pulled off some shrewd moves like the Fabbri, Walman, and Mantha trades, to name a few.

Years 4-5 shifted some focus towards the quality of on-ice play. Still building through the draft, but now later in the top 10 and again some solid picks in Kasper and Danielson. Awesome trade in bringing in Debrincat, and great move in bringing in (and retaining) Kane. Not knowing how ready Edvinsson was, and wanting to improve, he signed a handful of veteran dmen to bolster the team's general level of competence. And it's hard to argue that didn't work, considering they missed the playoffs by one single point.

The general state of the team is 100% night and day from when he took over, and they have improved every year in the standings as well. They have a glut of talent that will be working its way onto the roster over the next few seasons. The team is in great shape, and that is primarily due to Yzerman.

If the only truly bad things you can point to in a full rebuild that has played out as outlined above are a useful player being overpaid by $1.5M (Copp) and a useless 3yr $3.4M contract (Holl) then you're in pretty good shape. And unless and until a bad contract either prevents us from making a trade that would help the team, or sign a free agent that would help the team, then we haven't suffered a single negative consequence from those contracts and it's a bit silly to get worked up about them. We're not paying them, after all.

So we're 2 days into free agency, and Yzerman has pulled off an at worst neutral move in the Walman trade, and has not overpaid for any of the ridiculous contracts that have future regret written all over them, and we're supposed turn on him? He's made the team better every single year, and he's got lots of runway left to do the same this offseason. Let the man cook and enjoy the show.

 

[ZDH]

With our lottery luck we'd somehow end up with a worse pick than we had.

 

[Pengu]

To sum it up, really good at drafting, really poor at free agency.
Stuck with horrible contracts which in turn are blocking younger players from getting a chance.

 

[Henkka]

To sum it up, really good at drafting, really poor at free agency.
Stuck with horrible contracts which in turn are blocking younger players from getting a chance.

What younger players are they blocking?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

To sum it up, really good at drafting, really poor at free agency.
Stuck with horrible contracts which in turn are blocking younger players from getting a chance.

If you're implying that he's been good with the picks he directly has more influence over, which are the 1st round picks, then you're generally correct. 2nd-7th rounds, Draper & amateur scouting have been meh at best and moderately below average at worst.

 

[Snuggs]

Rebuild went off tracks when he signed a bunch of players to get out of the Bedard race but wouldn't go after any name significant enough to play on the 1st line or build around.

Every year he's just bringing in "guys", outside of DeBrincat, who imo fell into his lap, Open market trade Yzerman doesn't pay up.

Ducks will make the playoffs before the Red Wings do. Sad. Red Wings need a big move to alter things imo.