Former Red Wings coach Mike Babcock used to say “frustration is a waste of time,” and I’ve tried to believe that axiom.
That being said, all of us Red Wings partisans are more than a little frustrated by the fact that this summer’s free agent marketplace has become so very thin over the past couple of days.
Tomorrow, Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers are really the only offensive difference-makers left on the market, and they’ll be gobbled up quickly by contending teams; the same is probably true for defensemen Vladislav Gavrikov and Dmitri Orlov.
As such, the Red Wings are likely to end up adding players of the “supporting cast” variety, and the Detroit News’s Bob Wojnowski expresses frustration this evening, suggesting that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman hasn’t been aggressive enough in utilizing trades to improve his team.
Sure enough, many of the elite free agents re-signed with their teams, with the notable exception of Toronto’s Mitch Marner headed to Las Vegas. Most teams have ample cap space, and few are inclined to sell off players. The champion Panthers shockingly managed to keep all their top free-agents: Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand. Life in the Florida sun pays well, especially with no state tax.
The Wings desperately need defensemen, and reportedly are making a run at L.A.’s Vladislav Gavrikov. Restricted free agents are more cumbersome and require compensation, but the Rangers are vulnerable. Defenseman K’Andre Miller and forward Will Cuylle are intriguing, and could pop free.
Hard to make trades, hard to sign free agents, hard to stay patient. Fans may be frustrated, but so is Yzerman. After the draft ended Saturday, I asked if he felt “stuck” in a tight market.
“What do you mean by stuck?” Yzerman said, before a long pause. “When talking to teams, everybody wants players, much like we want players. I’m looking to add to our team and use our future assets, and right now, teams are all looking to add players.”
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“I don’t feel stuck,” Yzerman said. “It’s just being patient. Maybe if we can’t do anything, we get better simply by Marco (Kasper) taking another step, or Simon (Edvinsson) takes another step, or Albert (Johansson) takes another step. All I can tell you is, we will keep trying. But the worst thing I can do is make a move out of desperation or panic that doesn’t make us any better.”
Such as last summer, when he settled for the aging Tarasenko, and now cut his losses. In previous off-seasons, he spent heavily on free agents J.T. Compher, Andrew Copp, Justin Holl and others who either under-performed or departed.
“Anybody can go look at the list of potential free-agents and see there aren’t many players you’d think will have an impact,” Yzerman said. “At some point, something will come along, whether it’s a free agent, or maybe someone spends a lot of money and now they’ve got to move somebody, so they’re looking for a draft pick or a prospect for that player.”
Wojnowski continues, comparing the respective states of the Red Wings and the Detroit Pistons, and just short of midnight, MLive’s Ansar Khan suggested that the Red Wings will have to look to make significant improvement not through the free agent marketplace, but instead, via a trade or two:
Dallas left wing Jason Robertson has been in the rumor mill for weeks. If the Stars are open to trading the soon-to-be 26-year-old coming off back-to-back 80-point seasons after collecting 109 points in 2022-23, he’d likely be the Red Wings’ top priority.
Yzerman, however, noted the high cost of acquiring an impact player.
“When I talk to teams, you know the players they want, and I’m like, that doesn’t make me any better,” Yzerman said. “Am I willing to trade a core player? Maybe. It doesn’t necessarily make sense to create a hole at a position to fill in another one. Everybody wants our young players. I like our young players and I’d like to keep them add to that group. At some point something will come along. Maybe this summer somebody spends a lot of money in free agency and now they’ve got to move somebody and maybe there’s a fit. Now they’re looking for a draft pick or a prospect for that player.”
It’s definitely a sellers’ market.
“There’s just not that many players,” Yzerman said. “Everybody has cap space, everybody’s looking to add to their team. Every team I talk to is looking for this player, looking for that player. Nobody’s really selling off. Will somebody, have players expendable (after July 1)? Possibly.”
Yzerman stressed the need to improve from within with younger players taking another step.
“The worst thing I can do is make a move out of desperation or panic and, and move our young players out,” he said.
There are many good support players available starting at 12 PM EDT on Tuesday, but Canada Day won’t have the usual free agent fireworks that it usually contains.
While the Red Wings have every right to go bargain-hunting in terms of improving upon 3rd and 4th line, forechecking forwards with snarl, and support defensemen who can help on the second or third pairing…
Both Wojnowski and Khan are right–if the Wings are to significantly improve upon last season’s roster, they’re going to have to make a trade or two.
After missing out on Gavrikov it is now definitely trade or bust. As things stand… Habs, Rangers and Islanders have all improved and unless we fix our defense and worst penalty kill in league history, I think another year of mediocrity is upon us.