Yzerman End of Season pressconference

[odin1981]

Yup - and people are wondering why he let it be known about how much of a let down it was that nothing significant had taken place prior to the trade deadline...Guy is worn out on being the centerpiece (pun intended) on such an underperforming team for the last several seasons.

Hopefully he will be good with like 1-2 more years of patience. Because I don't really see a big shake up much before then.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Yup - and people are wondering why he let it be known about how much of a let down it was that nothing significant had taken place prior to the trade deadline...Guy is worn out on being the centerpiece (pun intended) on such an underperforming team for the last several seasons.

LOL imagine if Yzerman called a press conference to let it be known how much of a let down it was that Larkin 'led' a team that bottled two straight playoff appearances.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

LOL you are all over the place. Larkin spoke up for the room, Larkin needs to get out, they both now have a sense of urgency. Comical stuff, please keep it coming.

I've kept quiet about Larkin until he decided to display awful leadership. If I was captaining a team that bottled two straight playoff appearances and came across as quite content after last season and went to bat for Newsy after dropping 15 of 20 games, I sure as hell wouldn't be questioning the GM after he added a coach with over 1,000 NHL games coached, a 40ish goal scorer in DeBrincat, an 80 point guy in Ray, a 1D who played the toughest minutes in the league last year, a 2C in Kasper. and a top 3 D in Edvinsson. Whining about a 4th rounder in this upcoming draft is great leadership? That's putting pressure on Yzerman? GTFO with that noise.

But whatever, you'll be sure to find a way to spin it, you always do.

Yzerman had to bring a guy with him and had his second straight defensive press conference where our limp press pool actually grilled him. The pressure is building. You don’t think that was the most significantly aggressive press conference since Yzerman returned 6 years ago?

You’re blaming one guy for the failure of 23 and it ultimately isn’t even the main guy in charge. That is Yzerman, he assembled them. He is the guy the buck stops with or Chris Ilitch if he cares. He is the guy that named Larkin captain. That coach was available well before Christmas.

I want them all to have urgency because we were getting dangerously close to atrophy Buffalo style before this kicked off, seems everyone is on notice now.

The consensus on this board all season long was how we weren’t good enough. Now it is that hurt Larkin needed to drag them somewhere, okay same GTFO back at that logic.

The youth made positive strides, but we need to build on that and I am deeply troubled Yzerman went to bat for a pro scouting staff that has looked lost since Verbeek left.

 

[FMichael]

LOL imagine if Yzerman called a press conference to let it be known how much of a let down it was that Larkin 'led' a team that bottled two straight playoff appearances.

No press conference was called - it was a standard run of the mill end of season presser that the team has every season.

Fans like yourself need to stop sensationalizing DBoss' false narratives.

 

[rangersblues]

The youth made positive strides, but we need to build on that and I deeply troubled Yzerman went to bat for a pro scouting staff that has looked lost since Verbeek leleft.

That in a nutshell is one of the biggest problems I have with all this. The scouting department seems to be an old boys club for all of Stevie's buddies. No accountability

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

That in a nutshell is one of the biggest problems I have with all this. The scouting department seems to be an old boys club for all of Stevie's buddies. No accountability

This is fair. Can't have all the gang with you and you aren't getting results.

 

[Inspiration]

That in a nutshell is one of the biggest problems I have with all this. The scouting department seems to be an old boys club for all of Stevie's buddies. No accountability

I'm sure Chris Yzerman was the most qualified candidate at the time for their pro scouting position.

 

[wingsfannnn9191]

Anyone know where I can find the full video? I checked YouTube and can’t see it anywhere ... don’t agree with most of what he says just wanted to see if there were more phone calls from the fans

Find it funny how fans were expecting miracles from this team in 6 yrs when holland left us larkin Berggren rasmussen zadina. Horrible job in signings and hated tarasenko copp compher contracts day 1 but most fans I recall were overjoyed as if we had signed a star player ... anyways if anyone knows where it’s streamed I’d appreciate it

 

[SirKillalot]

You must hate Ras to no end I guess. Not that I am a fan at all of the guy.

I don't hate Ras, but where he was picked.
I dislike that him being such a big guy, is extremely non physical and should be at the very least when not, absolute superb at protecting/shielding the puck, which he also isn't.
He's not a shut down guy either, so he's a whole lot of average on an NHL level.

Rasmussen should have been a 2nd or 3rd round pick based on his development/delivery so far.

 

[sepster]

Because wing fans are spoiled after having 25 years of great centers. They expect greatness because we rolled Stevie and Sergei into Henrik and Pavel. Look at how many out of touch folks their are on here attacking Larkin because he "only" produces 70'sh points a year.

How is it out of touch to know that great centers, like the Wings have had in the past (the four you mentioned), are required to compete for championships and also recognize that Dylan Larkin is NOT a great center? I have said for years that Larkin would be a phenomenal 2C but is a below average 1C.

This is sort of a chicken or egg situation. Larkin is complaining that the team needs more help to make the playoffs, yet if the Wings 1C (Larkin) was an elite (or even above average) 1C, they quite possibly could be in back-to-back playoffs years right now.

 

[SirloinUB]

I don't hate Ras, but where he was picked.
I dislike that him being such a big guy, is extremely non physical and should be at the very least when not, absolute superb at protecting/shielding the puck, which he also isn't.
He's not a shut down guy either, so he's a whole lot of average on an NHL level.

Rasmussen should have been a 2nd or 3rd round pick based on his development/delivery so far.

He has the 18th most points in that draft class. Even in hindsight, Rasmussen is a 1st rounder all day and possibly still goes top 15.

Again, he consistently is top 1 or 2 among forwards on this team in hits. I've said it before, if we want more physicality on this team there are several guys that should be on the chopping block ahead of Rasmussen.

 

[Frk It]

I don't hate Ras, but where he was picked.
I dislike that him being such a big guy, is extremely non physical and should be at the very least when not, absolute superb at protecting/shielding the puck, which he also isn't.
He's not a shut down guy either, so he's a whole lot of average on an NHL level.

Rasmussen should have been a 2nd or 3rd round pick based on his development/delivery so far.

Never understood the argument for him being a top 10 player aside from his size. Believe I had him 17th on a list I put together for that draft before we picked him. Had him behind Necas, Suzuki, Thomas, etc.

 

[sepster]

He has the 18th most points in that draft class. Even in hindsight, Rasmussen is a 1st rounder all day and possibly still goes top 15.

Again, he consistently is top 1 or 2 among forwards on this team in hits. I've said it before, if we want more physicality on this team there are several guys that should be on the chopping block ahead of Rasmussen.

Then problem with Rasmussen occupying the "physical" forward role for the Wings is that he isn't good at it. In fact, he's well below average at it.

THE problem that the Wings currently face is that a lot of the roles required for playoff teams are not filled with playoff-caliber players. Some of the players like Seider (1D), Raymond (Top 6 scoring winger), Debrincat (Top 6 goal scorer), Copp (3C), etc fit the role they're in. Others, like Rasmussen, are occupying a necessary role, but aren't playoff-caliber.

 

[Run the Jewels]

How is it out of touch to know that great centers, like the Wings have had in the past (the four you mentioned), are required to compete for championships and also recognize that Dylan Larkin is NOT a great center? I have said for years that Larkin would be a phenomenal 2C but is a below average 1C.

This is sort of a chicken or egg situation. Larkin is complaining that the team needs more help to make the playoffs, yet if the Wings 1C (Larkin) was an elite (or even above average) 1C, they quite possibly could be in back-to-back playoffs years right now.

You make a good point, but it's obviously going to be lost. Most here said Larkin was not a top of the league 1C, but he'd be a great 2C. We recognize we need 2-3 centers who while they are not going to be 90 point guys, they need to be 2-way monsters. Marco seems like a perfect fit.

 

[SirloinUB]

Then problem with Rasmussen occupying the "physical" forward role for the Wings is that he isn't good at it. In fact, he's well below average at it.

THE problem that the Wings currently face is that a lot of the roles required for playoff teams are not filled with playoff-caliber players. Some of the players like Seider (1D), Raymond (Top 6 scoring winger), Debrincat (Top 6 goal scorer), Copp (3C), etc fit the role they're in. Others, like Rasmussen, are occupying a necessary role, but aren't playoff-caliber.

There is a fairness to that point but it ultimately comes down to how you evaluate this season imo. It was the worst season of his career. Do you view it as what to expect moving forward or a down year he can bounce back from?

Prior to this season he has averaged 15 goals/35 points per 82 games while being the 1st or 2nd most consistently physical guy on the team. If he bounces back to that, I see a legit 3rd liner who also has some positional flexibility for when injuries occur.

This year, Ras lead all full time red wings in hits/60. Assuming he can bounce back to his previous form I look at roster slots like Motte, Smith/Veleno, Tarasenko/Berggren as bigger issues, even Soderblom to an extent (This one could go either way. Soder put up less hits and less proven offence but better per/game offence with a small sample size).

We should add offence and physicality to the bottom 6 but start at the bottom of the list, not the top (of the bottom 6)

 

[jkutswings]

Prior to this season he has averaged 15 goals/35 points per 82 games while being the 1st or 2nd most consistently physical guy on the team. If he bounces back to that, I see a legit 3rd liner who also has some positional flexibility for when injuries occur.

It's a both/and. I think Ras can return to those numbers and be a functional third liner...while still being disappointed, both in the pick at the time it was made and in still knowing that 9 overall was used for what amounts to a functional third liner.

 

[minimal]

I sure as hell wouldn't be questioning the GM after he added a coach with over 1,000 NHL games coached, a 40ish goal scorer in DeBrincat, an 80 point guy in Ray, a 1D who played the toughest minutes in the league last year, a 2C in Kasper. and a top 3 D in Edvinsson.

Cool, cool. Wait, how many players are on a hockey team? What's up with those guys?

 

[SirKillalot]

Look at how many out of touch folks their are on here attacking Larkin because he "only" produces 70'sh points a year.

Well you would expect your number one center to score more than 70 points a year.
One could give Datsyuk a little bit of criticism for some years, others he didn't play the full 82 games.

You would expect your number one center to be point per game or better. Which Larkin has been around that for four of his seasons. The others he hasn't. Some can be put on the team and linemates not being good enough, but at the same time if you are a good player you should manage to do more yourself and drive your numbers. He hasn't to that degree.

Here is the thing, they drafted him with the goal of him being the number one center.
Doesn't mean it was a bad pick because obviously he has done quite well. But I certainly think one could have gotten more out of him and I think most would agree with that.

 

[SirloinUB]

It's a both/and. I think Ras can return to those numbers and be a functional third liner...while still being disappointed, both in the pick at the time it was made and in still knowing that 9 overall was used for what amounts to a functional third liner.

Fair, but as noted, he's still 18th in points from that draft class. We definitely passed on better players which sucks but at most we picked him 5-8 spots too high. Unfortunately, you have to chalk that up as sunk cost and make an evaluation moving forward.

As an exercise, I applied a 0.25% weight to everyone's total hits (Hits/4) and summed that with their raw points. This isn't intended to be a perfect or definitive ranking of our roster but we can use it as a rough contribution of a players combined offence + physicality.

Player	H+P
Lucas Raymond	90.5
Dylan Larkin	81
Alex DeBrincat	78.225
Marco Kasper	76
Patrick Kane	63.75
Michael Rasmussen	56.25
Vladimir Tarasenko	48.75
J.T. Compher	39.25
Jonatan Berggren	34.25
Joseph Veleno	33.25
Christian Fischer	29.25
Tyler Motte	27
Andrew Copp	25.25
Elmer Soderblom	21.75
Austin Watson	12
Craig Smith	8.5
Dominik Shine	5
Carter Mazur	0

We should be striving to remove guys from the bottom and add to the top. Right now, Larkin and Rasmussen are frequent targets on this forum, shipping them out is removing from the top/middle and trying to add the top. I mean maybe one day we can upgrade those slots but its more effective to prioritize replacing the bottom than the top.

 

[SirKillalot]

He has the 18th most points in that draft class. Even in hindsight, Rasmussen is a 1st rounder all day and possibly still goes top 15.

Again, he consistently is top 1 or 2 among forwards on this team in hits. I've said it before, if we want more physicality on this team there are several guys that should be on the chopping block ahead of Rasmussen.

I don't view points from draft class so much. I view it as if you pick in the top 10, or in the top 20, your goal is to get a top six forward, top four defenseman or starting goalie. Ras isn't any of those things.
He's a bottom six forward without any speciality to his game.
They gambled on him developing offense and never put him in a situation to do so and he himself doesn't seem to be the guy who goes to practice to develop himself, but goes to be coached.


How many of these hits can you remember?
Everyone one can "through hits" without really making an impact.
This guy with his size, should be really laying hits on people and he isn't.
And when he is not doing that, at least he should be very good / close to an expert in other things and he isn't.

Now he has developed into a usable player and at the end of the day has become a regular NHL'er and will be for years even if it would be in other teams, but if you traded him tomorrow, it wouldn't be very difficult to replace what he delivers, as he isn't special in anything. Just like with Joe Veleno.

Then problem with Rasmussen occupying the "physical" forward role for the Wings is that he isn't good at it. In fact, he's well below average at it.

I guess statpadding comes to mind. Hit to have a hit in the logbook but not hit to make impact in games.

 

[Winger98]

Never understood the argument for him being a top 10 player aside from his size. Believe I had him 17th on a list I put together for that draft before we picked him. Had him behind Necas, Suzuki, Thomas, etc.

It was a homerun swing. He had traits the Wings were hopeful in progressing. Should we have taken that sort of swing at that time when we desperately needed prospects who would work out? Probably not. Should we have rushed him to the NHL just because of his size? Again, probably not.

I feel we may have failed that guy a bit rushing him up and not sending him back to juniors and then to GR for a couple of years.

 

[SirKillalot]

It was a homerun swing. He had traits the Wings were hopeful in progressing. Should we have taken that sort of swing at that time when we desperately needed prospects who would work out? Probably not. Should we have rushed him to the NHL just because of his size? Again, probably not.

I feel we may have failed that guy a bit rushing him up and not sending him back to juniors and then to GR for a couple of years.

This might be.
Maybe one should have done both of these things for him to be confident and develop those offensive abilities against lesser opponents. Might have been a missed opportunity.

But, it might also be him and his mentality. To me it seems he plays to much by what if things goes wrong mindset than just having someone telling him try or just do it.

 

[SirKillalot]

Anyone know where I can find the full video? I checked YouTube and can’t see it anywhere ... don’t agree with most of what he says just wanted to see if there were more phone calls from the fans

Find it funny how fans were expecting miracles from this team in 6 yrs when holland left us larkin Berggren rasmussen zadina. Horrible job in signings and hated tarasenko copp compher contracts day 1 but most fans I recall were overjoyed as if we had signed a star player ... anyways if anyone knows where it’s streamed I’d appreciate it

I watched it yesterday and its not worth finding the full video. These guys live in a video game world mindset where they think its a quick fix and all they want is to get to the playoffs to have that on their resume.

 

[Hugh Mongusbig]

There is a fairness to that point but it ultimately comes down to how you evaluate this season imo. It was the worst season of his career. Do you view it as what to expect moving forward or a down year he can bounce back from?

Prior to this season he has averaged 15 goals/35 points per 82 games while being the 1st or 2nd most consistently physical guy on the team. If he bounces back to that, I see a legit 3rd liner who also has some positional flexibility for when injuries occur.

Um what? Ras has averaged 35 points? since when? His career high is 33 points and that is the only time he has ever broke 30 points, in 6 seasons.
He may PACE for 35 points over 82 games, but when has he ever played 82 games? He's soft as butter.
The guy just finished his 6th season in the league and has only played 390 games (6 x 82 = 492 possible)
so he has missed 100+ games in six years, so he rarely gets close to putting up those 35 points he might pace for.
He's a .35 PPG player who can easily be replaced.
And he's probably never again going to see the top line usage like he got earlier in his career, so his numbers will probably continue to drop more as he falls further down the lineup year after year.

Kasper only took 1 season to best anything that Ras has accomplished at the NHL level. Ras hasn't improved at all since he entered the league, if anything he has taken a step back as his usage has gone down. I would not expect that to change. Unless he can improve (he can't) it will keep happening.

 

[SirKillalot]

Ras hasn't improved at all since he entered the league, if anything he has taken a step back as his usage has gone down. I

Well that isn't exactly true. He got credit last two years for becoming a fairly reliable player in most situations, its just that he doesn't excel on anything.

I don't mind having on the team, but I also wouldn't miss him if he got traded for something mid season next year.