The Detroit News’s John Niyo penned a superb subscriber-only column, discussing Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s discussion of his free agency moves (as Yzerman remarked upon during today’s press conferences) in light of the fact that the Red Wings have been in a “rebuild” for a very long time now.
As Niyo suggests, Yzerman is attempting to correct some of the “wrong moves” made in the later portions of Ken Holland’s time with the Red Wings, and Yzerman’s attempting to do so without inflicting long-term damage with any mistakes of his own:
You remember the Red Wings’ ill-fated summer of 2016, right? After a second straight first-round playoff exit to Yzerman’s Lightning, Holland lost out again in free agency that summer when star winger Steven Stamkos stayed put in Tampa, forcing Detroit to shift to Plan B. The Wings had already cleared cap space by trading Pavel Datsyuk’s contract to Arizona, and Holland opted to spend a big chunk of it on a 32-year-old center, Frans Nielsen, who now is a buyout candidate himself after putting up nine points in 60 games last season.
Yzerman has opted not to write that one off the books for now. Instead, though, he’s bringing in a player on the other side of a buyout in 33-year-old Bobby Ryan, a right-winger who still had two years left at a $7.25 million cap hit when Ottawa put him on waivers last month. In Detroit, Ryan sees an opportunity to reboot his career. In Ryan, the Red Wings see a right-handed shot who can help their power play and the right kind of low-risk gamble at a $1 million price tag.
But the same is true for the other free-agent signings. Namestnikov probably slots in as the second-line center, though Yzerman says he’s capable of playing all three forward spots here. Merrill’s a left-shot defenseman who’ll bolster the blue line and provide insurance — along with newly acquired veteran Marc Staal — since Danny DeKeyser is coming off back surgery last winter. Stecher adds another solid two-way defender on the right side, which is notable since top prospect Moritz Seider is on loan playing in Sweden this season, at least until March or April. In goal, Greiss gives the Red Wings a more viable tandem with Jonathan Bernier than what they had last season, given Jimmy Howard’s struggles in net.
“We’re trying to surround the younger players with high-quality veterans,” Yzerman said. “With guys that can help our team get better, help our young guys improve, make us more competitive, and try and improve our team but buy time to let our young guys develop.”
Continued (paywall)
