Custance: NHL executives give Yzerman’s free agency moves a thumbs-up

The Athletic’s Craig Custance asked anonymous NHL executives to weigh in regarding all 31 NHL teams’ free agency moves (or the lack thereof), and here are some of the execs’ takes on Steve Yzerman’s short-term deals (as one executive notes, the Wings’ moves aren’t Cup-winners, but that’s okay):

“To be honest, the Red Wings have done a good job,” said another executive. “They’ll be somewhat competitive. They brought in character and leadership. Stevie Y does a great job.”

“Detroit had a good offseason,” said a Western Conference exec. “Namestnikov for $2 million. Bobby Ryan for $1 million. It fits exactly what they’re doing. They’re not going long term with anybody. They’ve got some good, cheap players who will improve their team right away. They’ve got a couple more D. They got more assets for the deadline. They’re movable contracts.”

Multiple execs brought up the character element. All the players signed seem to be oozing in character.

“Stevie is very deliberate who he puts around his team,” said one. “If a player is not a culture guy or does not serve a specific purpose, they get shipped out pretty quick. I like Namestnikov. Bobby Ryan is fine. I like Stecher. I like Greiss. Those guys are pretty good.”

Continued (paywall)

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, when MLive hired me to work their SlapShots blog, and I joined Kukla's Korner in 2011 as The Malik Report. I'm starting The Malik Report as a stand-alone site, hoping that having my readers fund the website is indeed the way to go to build a better community and create better content.