Yzerman is Telling You His Philosophy if You Listen

[SirloinUB]

The caps also made the playoffs 8 straight years before falling out that one year. Then another six straight years before that.

This is going to be the first year in Yzerman's tenure we don't make a points gain over the previous season. It sucks, but it's also not like we haven't been getting measurably better.

Even if we slide a bit in the standings/points, I’d still view this season as progress within the rebuild. Guys like Kasper, Ed and AlJo holding meaningful roster spots and even thriving is great for the long term outlook. Another wave of Kids emerging in the NHL is progress regardless of what the standings say.

I think this summer is the first time yzerman should meaningfully consider getting agressive to bolster this rebuild. If we can trade our 2025 1st, some depth and/or some prospects for a legit top half of the lineup guy we definitely should. He shouldn’t force anything but he should be looking for a long term upgrade.

The 2026 pick could also be in play but it absolutely needs to be top 5 or even 10 protected.

 

[Run the Jewels]

A few things I want to see regardless of what happens this season:

1. Revamp our North American scouting. Our UFA signings have mostly been terrible, and our most recent NA draft pick who is still in the organization and has played more than 100 NHL games is Michael Rasmussen. The only other one still on the team is Dylan Larkin.
2. Be aggressive with this summer's draft pick. We have plenty of prospects, make a move if necessary to get the player you want in the draft. I'd obviously prefer that pick get Hakan's seal of approval given point #1, but if we miss out on the playoffs this may be our last chance to draft near the top 10.
3. Make a highly competitive offer for Mitch Marner if he hits UFA. I'm not saying you must sign him, but we have the cap space to make an offer and elite skill is one thing we really need if we are going to become highly competitive.

 

[Winger98]

Even if we slide a bit in the standings/points, I’d still view this season as progress within the rebuild. Guys like Kasper, Ed and AlJo holding meaningful roster spots and even thriving is great for the long term outlook. Another wave of Kids emerging in the NHL is progress regardless of what the standings say.

I think this summer is the first time yzerman should meaningfully consider getting agressive to bolster this rebuild. If we can trade our 2025 1st, some depth and/or some prospects for a legit top half of the lineup guy we definitely should. He shouldn’t force anything but he should be looking for a long term upgrade.

The 2026 pick could also be in play but it absolutely needs to be top 5 or even 10 protected.

I have a hard time being too hard on this season with how divided it was. The Lalonde half was such a disaster that I just dismiss it. Since McLellan took over, I think we're still on a 95+ point pace with him despite our recent rough patch. But I think that first half heavily colors how some see this season.

I think this summer will make a lot of folks unhappy, though. I agree that Yzerman will be looking to swing big, but realistically it's unlikely to happen. While we should be able to upgrade the bottom half of the lineup, I don't really want to see us go there. Either get more help up top, that helps push guys we already have lower, or just filter more kids in and roll with it.

The one low spot I'd make an exception for is Holl. That's a guy who hasn't looked good all year, and even on the third pair he's not sheltered or buried well enough.

A few things I want to see regardless of what happens this season:

1. Revamp our North American scouting. Our UFA signings have mostly been terrible, and our most recent NA draft pick who is still in the organization and has played more than 100 NHL games is Michael Rasmussen. The only other one still on the team is Dylan Larkin.

Cross Hanas is on the way to fix that.

I'm not sure that's a reflection on our scouting, though, or just how we've allocated resources. We haven't dumped a lot of high picks into NA, and without that we're not going to get a lot of players from there. At least not without waiting awhile for those guys to develop.

Just a quick look at our prospects, and I think Cossa, Buium, Mazur, Danielson, Lombardi, Finnie, Augustine, and Plante could make our NA drafting look a lot better. Sucks we didn't get more out of those first couple of Yzerman drafts, but it is what it is.

 

[Fynn]

This thread is so amusing, I think some people have wiped from their minds how truly bad this team was like 4 years ago. Or like when the second third and fourth best guys on the team were AA, Bert, and Mantha, lol. The league has gotten better too, wildcard race used to be like 3-4 teams, now it’s like 7 teams within 6 points for the last spot, and parity is much better across the league except for teams that are in true tank mode.

Four years being the key word. I think the fan base has been plenty patient with Yzerman. Again, no one is expecting Stanley Cup Champions this year or next. But tangible progress is important. The Wings are stuck in purgatory and the only way out is solid trades or free agent signings. Yzerman has not been successful in that aspect of his job. He really lost me last year when the team blew an 8 point lead and failed to make the playoffs and he just shrugged it off and said, we weren't expected to be there anyway. Then kept Lalonde, paid a team to take a defenseman he just signed to a 3 year deal because of "cap issues", let another solid defenseman go because he wanted a 3 year deal. For what, to acquire Gustafsson, who is awful. Keep Holl and Petry? But those multi year deals were good? Still no decent goalie. If Ken Holland were making all these same moves, fans would be rioting.

 

[AlwaysSunnyInDetroit]

1oa or 32oa. every other outcome is unacceptable

 

[SirloinUB]

Four years being the key word. I think the fan base has been plenty patient with Yzerman. Again, no one is expecting Stanley Cup Champions this year or next. But tangible progress is important. The Wings are stuck in purgatory and the only way out is solid trades or free agent signings. Yzerman has not been successful in that aspect of his job. He really lost me last year when the team blew an 8 point lead and failed to make the playoffs and he just shrugged it off and said, we weren't expected to be there anyway. Then kept Lalonde, paid a team to take a defenseman he just signed to a 3 year deal because of "cap issues", let another solid defenseman go because he wanted a 3 year deal. For what, to acquire Gustafsson, who is awful. Keep Holl and Petry? But those multi year deals were good? Still no decent goalie. If Ken Holland were making all these same moves, fans would be rioting.

FFS. There has been tangible progress!

Up to this point the team has gotten better every year while getting younger every year.