NHL.com’s Tracey Myers surveyed the comments made by both the Red Wings’ free agent signings and their new general manager to offer this particular take on Detroit’s post-July 13th roster:
“I think we’ve improved the team, but we have to go on the ice in September and play in October,” [GM Steve] Yzerman said. “I think we’ve addressed some needs. I’m hoping we’re a better team. I think we’re progressing slowly in this rebuilding of the Red Wings.”
Yzerman showed he can reshape a team when he was Lightning GM from 2010-18. Under his watch, Tampa Bay drafted forward Nikita Kucherov, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, hired Jon Cooper as coach, convinced captain Steven Stamkos to re-sign for eight more seasons in 2016, and acquired defenseman Mikhail Sergachev in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens.
The Lightning reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2015, then won back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021 and advanced to the Final in 2022, where they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in six games.
“Not to take anything away from [current Lightning GM Julien BriseBrois], but Steve was there for a while and drafted a bunch of guys and turned that into a big part of where they’re at today,” [Andrew] Copp said. “So, I think that trust stems from there.”
The players seem determined to bring the Red Wings back to prominence. Yzerman said he is certainly hoping for a more competitive squad.
“Are we good enough to make the playoffs next year? I don’t know,” Yzerman said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll score more goals, we’ll give up fewer goals, I’m hoping our power play will be a little bit better (26th in NHL last season), our penalty killing is a little bit better (last in NHL), our goals-against is a little bit better (3.78 last season, second-most in NHL) and that pushes us higher up in the standings.”
