Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen dishes a little bit of dirt regarding Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s decision to be aggressive over the course of the past five days, adding five significant unrestricted free agents and a goaltender acquired by trade:
Steve Yzerman doesn’t provide regular updates about how he feels about his hockey team. But in the second half of last season, the word around Little Caesars Arena was Yzerman livid about the team’s lack of competitiveness.
Yzerman has a long-term plan for rebuilding. But Wednesday Yzerman turned anger into action by signing five unrestricted free agents who should step immediately into the lineup. He used $19.9 million in cap space to sign center Andrew Copp ($5.65 million), wings David Perron ($4.75) and Dominik Kubalik ($2.5 million) and defensemen Ben Chiarot ($4.75 million) and Olli Maatta ($2.25 million).
“I think that’s a sign to the whole fanbase and to the team that the team is ready to take that next step,” said Chiarot who helped the Montreal Canadiens reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. He finished last season with the Florida Panthers.
With all of the changes Yzerman has made and Simon Edvinsson coming in, Perron is not ruling out anything for the Red Wings.
“After the experience I lived through in Vegas (in its first year), I’m not sure how long it takes to just turn a team around,” Perron said.
That expansion team advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. He thinks the experiences he learned with the Vegas Golden Knights can help the Red Wings. He thinks this team could come together and compete for the playoffs “who knows what could happen from there.”
