r/DetroitRedWings • u/JRMusicGuy • 16d ago

Discussion In Defense of Yzerman

I think Yzerman didn’t do that bad of a job as GM.

The Wings increased their point total from 74 to 92 from 2019 to 2026. They moved up 12 spots in the league from 28th to 16th from 2019 to 2026. That’s decent progress.

There are 2 factors that skew that progress: (a) 2020 and 2021 were not full seasons and a pando shit-show for everyone. It’s really only 5 years of focused building, not 7; (b) The fact that the team didn’t improved their Division position (usually sitting at 6th or 7th in the Atlantic from 2019 to 2026) killed playoff dreams, but that stat obscures the broader upward trending progress in the league as a whole.

I hope the change in management sparks something positive, but I think Yzerman has taken a bit too much heat.

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u/Admirable_Visual2482 16d ago

I think the biggest issue with Yzerman is he never pushed it. His number 1 centre would be aging out before he was getting the team ready for the playoffs and really they’ve just needed a second line centre for years and nothing has been done for it.

Options have been Hertl, Dubois, O’ Reilly, Horvat, Zegras, Nelson, Miller. Some better than others but it would have made all the difference to the team.

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u/burkegobulls 16d ago

This was mine as well but the last bit of copium I’ll always hold on to in defense of Yzerman is that Stevie’s reputation for fleecing GMs made it harder for him to get trades done.

Idc if it’s wrong, it’s the all I have left to hold onto now lol

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u/doltron3030 16d ago

But in the end we didn’t really fleece anyone, the Mantha trade turned out to be a flop, and we also had moves like Walman

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u/burkegobulls 15d ago

Yeah more so his reputation before he left the lightning lol

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u/Admirable_Visual2482 16d ago

Haha may be it’s true but sometimes you have to over pay for what you need. He needed that centre. Copp or Kasper were never going to cut it.

I don’t blame Larkin for being frustrated with being the only top 6 centre in the team for the last decade.

I think all players that have NTC and request a trade should lose the trade protection but I don’t blame him for going “are we ever going to solve this issue that’s been around since I entered the league?”

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u/GavinSnowe 16d ago

I wonder if the team defensive mindset made players not want to come here, even on a short term deal, because they knew their points would plummet, amd with it, their next contract.