I still think acquiring all of Holl, Petry, Chiarot, Maatta, and Gustafsson is a bit much. 3 of those guys, fine. All of them is truly just an unnecessary logjam of shit and a lot of wasted dollars. Especially Holl, who's always been trash and will always be trash.
I'm a fan of the Seider and Raymond contracts. I still think Benson was the right choice over Danielson but otherwise 1st round drafting has been great for where we've had chances to pick.
Copp is a bad contract but thats the only real bad contract on forward. D is where he's really wasted dollars.
Overall it's going okay. Are we allowed to have nuanced opinions here or is it just "you love Yzerman or you hate him? "
D - That D was a train wreck when Yzerman came aboard. I won't argue that a few of these signings were shots in the dark, but I think the organization thought, why the hell not. The Holl signing is the one call out I completely agree on. Stevie was given bad intel. That guy is an AHL player, given a golden ticket by Detroit.
Copp sucks. This is a signing I am surprised occurred. Way too much money on a player who had good season (what will be his career best) and has now returned to his median level of play. Call him Abby or Frans Nielson like but in every way this was a horrible deal.
So, while I agree with the general statement, I do not see Yzerman as having gone wrong, just that mistakes are a natural part of rebuilding a team from the prospects on up. If it is love or hate, love. If nuance is allowed, I really, really, really like Stevie. hahaha