EP Rinkside’s Ryan Lambert is anything but a fan of the Detroit Red Wings, so his take on the direction of the Detroit Red Wings (in Lambert’s latest “Take Town” column) is not necessarily surprising:
I mostly like what the Red Wings did this summer, but the improvements are largely marginal. If they were trying to go from a wild-card team to top-three in the division, you could see the thinking. But the point is that they went from finishing lower than a rather bad Washington Capitals team that lucked into the playoffs, and it’s hard to see how they take a step back into the postseason with the changes they made so far this summer.
For instance, cleared a bunch of cap space and then kinda mostly didn’t use it. I would argue they made their blue line worse in giving away Jake Walman and letting Shayne Gostisbehere walk, and only replacing them with Erik Gustafsson (a player I quite like). They somewhat surprisingly brought back Patrick Kane and added Vladimir Tarasenko, which should juice the offence a bit. But the thing those signings are most likely to do is not necessarily juice the offence but rather make the offence slightly more sustainable.
Remember, Detroit was a mega-PDO team for a good chunk of the year; they scored the ninth-most goals in the league last season, and seventh-most at 5-on-5, but their xG totals in those respective stats ranked 25th and 28th. Even after bringing Kane back for a full season and adding Tarasenko, it doesn’t feel likely that this team is a similarly strong offensive juggernaut. I don’t think just having Dylan Larkin in the lineup for the full 82 gets them there. But if they can stay in the top 15 or so in goals, it’s easy to see where they can at least pretend the team stays in the playoff race. To what end, given that the roster doesn’t seem like it’s better than it was last year, barring growth from their litany of young players? Well, let’s just say “making the playoffs” would be a huge improvement from what they did in the past.
I do wonder how much more rope Steve Yzerman has to implement his eponymous plan before people finally turn on him. Obviously the team still has two-plus months to move things around and make a notable move or three, but it’s not as though there are a ton of needle-movers who remain unsigned. But it would be hard to argue that, in their division, they improved the most among the non-playoff teams, and if the shooting percentage takes a step back, we might just see the Ottawa Senators take a step that Detroit, perhaps, cannot.
Continued (paywall); I really hated the subtraction of Walman for a salary cap move that the Red Wings obviously were not able to achieve, and the subtractions of Shayne Gostisbehere (who clearly wanted to return to Carolina) and David Perron (Ottawa? Really?) puzzle me…
But that’s what happens once players hit the market in unrestricted free agency, and while the Wings are still at a goal deficit having chosen to not re-sign Daniel Sprong in addition to losing Gostisbehere and Perron to the open market, well…
They’ve also lost Gostisbehere’s defensive gaffes at even strength, Perron’s obstruction penalties due to his slowing foot speed, Sprong’s inability to play a two-way game, and bringing in the well-traveled Erik Gustafsson, Cam Talbot and of course Tarasesnko, even if he is no longer the player he once was (as The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus suggested), retaining Christian Fischer and bringing in Tyler Motte, all while hanging onto Patrick Kane.
Yeah, I’d like to see the Wings do more than re-sign their restricted free agents (Jonatan Berggren, Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and Joe Veleno). Yeah, I’d like to see Justin Holl and his 2 years at $3.4 million remaining jettisoned, somehow, to make room for Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson. I think that the Wings need to move one of Husso or Lyon at some point.
And we obviously have to talk about the fact that the Wings need another upgrade on defense via trade, even if it takes until next season’s trade deadline to happen.
But I don’t see the Red Wings as two steps behind the Ottawa Senators, Linus Ullmark and David Perron included, I don’t see the Canadiens sneaking up on both Detroit and Ottawa, as the Habs’ radio corps is suggesting, and the Sabres’ trade for Ryan McLeod today doesn’t push Buffalo over the playoff line in my book.
I happen to believe that there is a method behind Steve Yzerman’s methodical moves, missteps included, and that Detroit may be a little behind in the rebuild timeline, but are still “going to get there,” provided that the young players are afforded an opportunity to “take jobs” over time.
There are some people who’ve bailed on “The Yzerplan” (which Steve Yzerman does not call the front office’s rebuilding plan) already–hell, there were people who “turned” on Yzerman the moment he became the Red Wings’ GM. But not everybody is Mike Valenti, and not everybody is panicking every time the Red Wings do or do not sign an unrestricted free agent.
The Wings are still on a steady ascent in my book. And Steve Yzerman’s job is not in jeopardy.
