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Op-Ed: Yzerman Out as GM, but “Yzerplan” has been Dead for Years
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- Op-Ed: Yzerman Out as GM, but “Yzerplan” has been Dead for Years
The post Op-Ed: Yzerman Out as GM, but "Yzerplan" has been Dead for Years appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now .
USA TODAY Network via Reuters ConnectUSA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
When Steve Yzerman first came to the Red Wings , fans and media alike celebrated the move as the homecoming of one of the team's greatest icons on ice , brought in after sharpening his skills and cutting his teeth off-ice as general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning .
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The results, after nearly a decade, and the fanfare had died down with Yzerman at the helm, were underwhelming to say the least. No one can doubt that Yzerman and his staff had a decent "hit rate" when it comes to drafting NHL-caliber talent.
But the team never let some of those young players claim spots in the lineup, and instead had to move on from some of the players they'd drafted and developed because there was no way to move a bad signing from the veteran scouting staff .
The closest the team ever got to a playoff spot was in the 2023-24 season. In that moment where the team was at the crossroads for contention, Yzerman decided he was going to stick to his plan, and the Red Wings have fallen back in the standings every year since.
Brainssssss
It was in 2024 that then-head coach of the Red Wings, Derek Lalonde, said;
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" I think last year, our team was a year ahead of schedule. "
It may have been that the now-Canadiens assistant bench boss was onto something.
That previous season, Yzerman had assembled a core around the team that included Shayne Gostisbehere , David Perron , and even the now much maligned JT Compher as 40+ point contributors. They brought in Alex DeBrincat in the offseason, and Patrick Kane signed with the team partway through the year.
Yet, at the trade deadline, a year after selling off assets like Filip Hronek and Tyler Bertuzzi for first-round picks, the Red Wings stood pat. They missed the playoffs by one point in the standings because another team, in another game, pulled their goalie .
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That offseason, Gostisbehere and Perron walked away in free agency. Yzerman stuck with his rebuild plan and kept tearing down to the studs.
That offseason was when the Yzerplan died. A victim of its own success, the team got close to contention "too soon" in the general manager's eyes, so instead of seriously adding, he subtracted.
It's a whole new world out there, kid
There have been three general managers to make headlines this offseason for all the wrong reasons. Now, the reasons are different, but all three have certainly been taking it on the chin. That group would be Pat Verbeek, Steve Yzerman, and, to a lesser extent, Jim Nill.
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Verbeek and Nill , former Red Wings front office assistants and now GMs of their own clubs, have been the subject of much discussion around how they have handled the contracts and negotiations for those contracts, with their star players. Verbeek reportedly had the opportunity to sign Leo Carlsson for much less than the $18 million offer sheet that he had to match last week. Yet he stuck to his plan and kept twisting the screws.
Now he's paying a 20-year-old the most money an NHL player has ever gotten on a contract, and Carlsson probably isn't even the best center to play in the NHL in the state of California .
Nill has built the Dallas Stars into a perennial playoff contender, but his negotiations with star winger Jason Robertson have gotten to the point of an arbitration hearing being held because he can't find a way to pay him what he's owed or a suitable team to trade him to.
Yzerman had his team sitting outside of the playoffs for over half a decade and is now being shuffled out of a roster controlling position after the team's captain demanded a trade out of Hockeytown.
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The one thing connecting them all is the Red Wings front office. Nill and Verbeek were disciples of the old Red Wings regime before taking their positions as "the guy" in their respective cities.
This just isn't the same league anymore, and it seems like the Red Wings brass haven't yet gotten with the times.
The post Op-Ed: Yzerman Out as GM, but "Yzerplan" has been Dead for Years appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now .
