Yesterday, the Hockey News’s Adam Proteau suggested that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman might very well be fired if his team isn’t at least playoff-relevant this upcoming season. Today, Proteau is deeming Yzerman’s team to be a franchise stuck in the “mushy middle“:
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings haven’t made the playoffs in nine seasons. Only the Sabres have spent more time out of the post-season.
At the same time, Detroit has picked in the top five of the draft just once in the past 35 years.
It’s difficult to land a generational talent when you’re not picking in the top five. The Red Wings have managed to get lucky and draft Simon Edvinsson (sixth overall in 2021), Lucas Raymond (fourth overall in 2020) and Moritz Seider (sixth overall in 2019) in recent years, but imagine what this team would look like with a few top three picks.
Don’t expect that trend to change anytime soon.
The Red Wings’ additions this summer, which include signing goalie John Gibson, won’t move the needle for them in the highly competitive Atlantic Division. Unless something drastic changes, Detroit is almost assuredly headed for another mediocre season.
Even if they do sneak into the post-season, the Wings will probably be roadkill against superior opponents. And that means more mushy middle developments for a franchise that once was the gold standard for NHL organizations.
Continued; I’m not going to deny that the Red Wings have had a tough road back from the late Ken Holland era, in which the last few years of drafting and developing were quite poor, to building up the Wings’ currently deep pool of prospects who are at least near developing into NHL players to reinforce the roster…
But if we’re gonna call Detroit “lucky” for drafting Edvinsson, Raymond and Seider, and we’re going to call them “roadkill” if they make the playoffs…
Then the same adjectives apply to the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, who have become the “next big things” in the Atlantic Division in the eyes of the same media.
Detroit’s NHL franchise has to improve, and it’s probably going to take importing a star goal-scorer and a star top-four defenseman as well as continuing to draft and develop prospects at a high level…
But shitting on a team that’s had no draft lottery luck (sorry, not sorry) and has had to rebuild from a franchise that was pretty close to bereft of NHL talent and NHL prospects in the late Ken Holland Era, well, that’s just gratuitous.
Yes, Yzerman’s rebuild has been too cautious. But at least it’s on the track and moving forward.
The Red Wings can and do take criticism, as every franchise should, its coach and management have thick skin, and the fans do by now, too. But this rides the line between constructive criticism and gratuitous trash talk.
That was was well stated. You are correct about the Red Wings draft fortunes the last 9 years. They have lost ground in the draft order in most of those years totaling 8 positions. Absolutely the worst luck in the draft lottery.
I also think Steve can start and afford to be a bit more aggressive, speeding up his rebuild plan. We have the right coach, and I think a fair coach, in place. He will always hold players accountable.
As far as the “playoff road kill” comment goes, he’s probably right. I can’t dispute that. I will say this, the playoff experience would be invaluable. These younger players need to be in the playoffs. They need to feel it. The bottom line, make the playoffs and take it one game at a time. Learn while you’re there.
George your article was solid reading as always.
Terry R,
I agree that Steve has to be more aggressive, in no small part *due* to that stupid draft lottery luck, but the team finally has a deep pool of prospects, and he can leverage some of that into immediate help.
“Road kill” is a little harsh in my opinion, but as you say, it’s about making the playoffs and learning from the environment as opposed to “making a run” right now.