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.
The buck does stop with Yzerman and I don't want to suggest he should be unaccountable for the results. In my mind its a tough balance to strike - apologies for the wall of text coming your way.
You initially framed this "if you were Illitch" and in that context my response may disappoint you. I prefer to evaluate the process and the balance of good decisions vs bad decisions rather than timelines.
In that regard, there are a few main categories to consider:
Drafting: Many of his drafts are too early to evaluate but I don't think we would take anyone drafted after Seider, Raymond at this point. Its probably a little early to say on Edvinsson/Cossa. Maybe Johnston? Cossa/Wallstadt seems like a coin flip at this point. Either way nothing to fault yet. He hasn't produced anything after the 1st round but 1) you shouldn't expect much, 2) it's probably too early to definitively evaluate those picks with a few still trending well. Many would rather see him swing for a different archetype but anything after Ed is too early to evaluate.
UFA Signings:
- I know the Holl, Chairot and Copp deals aren't popular but overall I think Yzerman has been solid. They are middling players but they only represent 15% of the cap. Keep in mind this team has barely operated above the salary cap floor - if it wasn't these guys - Yzerman would have signed someone else of similar value. Im not sure the other options were truly better. Definitely not perfect but he also hasn't hamstrung the team.
- My biggest critique here isn't so much who he signed and for how much but how many guys he signed. He jammed up the back end so much so that he had to move a 2nd to help alleviate the log jam. This is his biggest mistake in my eye.
-I liked the Kane pickup, same with Compher. Id even argue Copp has been better than he gets credit for (still overpaid). This summer he avoided any big deals that would hamstring the team moving forward.
Trades:
- We can complain about the Walman trade but reality seems to show he had no value across the league. Can we expect him to get value for pieces no-one else values? (I fault him for having so many dman that this move was necessary more so than the value of the trade itself).
- Debrincat was a solid trade.
- I liked to original Walman trade even if it didnt work out well in the long run (nothing lost ultimately).
- The mantha trade was good.
- I think everything else was fairly minor.
Internal Signings: Thus far he has done well. I liked the Larkin Contract. The Rasmussen extension seems solid. Ultimately this summer will be his biggest measuring stick in this category.
Off Ice Considerations One of his 1st pieces of business was to improve the conditioning and rehab of this team. This seems to be going well. Despite being in a rebuild he has kept fans in the arena. This is obviously important from a financial angle. Overall Im not sure there is much to consider.
Player Development: It's a little early to truly evaluate but the returns seem good so far. His effort to have guys like Kronwall working with euros and cleary working with the NAs seems to be working. I think things are on track here.
Of course, these are just my opinions and general thoughts. Others are free to disagree but on balance I think Yzerman has done more good than bad across these categories.
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.
In terms of strategy and process I think there is validity in this critique from @Suggs. But I also think there is merit in insulating the youth and building things back up before a losing mentality sinks in on our young players.
Where does that leave us? Well still outside of the playoffs but overall he's is making more good moves than bad moves and hasn't made any earth shattering mistakes. Truthfully with each passing season he increasingly owns the results. In my mind, he has still has a lengthy leash until the abdelkader buyout is off the books - he quite literally still has some of Holland's mess on his hands (neverminded the barren roster/prospect cupboard he inherited)
