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.