I’ve had to bite my tongue today as the sports talk radio jocks and Twitter/X trolls alike express giddiness about the supposedly sorry state of the Red Wings after the team relieved Steve Yzerman of his general manager’s duties.
I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised at how many Red Wings fans and Detroit media types seem to enjoy wallowing in the mud that is believed to be the state of the team–the outsiders, I get, but this whole concept that the team is somehow at rock bottom simply because the GM’s been moved into an advisory role, and that this state should be celebrated.
I just don’t get that.
There are the building blocks of a rebuild still present in Detroit’s coaching staff, prospects, and players like Moritz (the next captain) Seider and Lucas Raymond. The Wings can still manage to achieve an acceptable return for Dylan Larkin, with whom I believe the team’s relationship is irreparably harmed.
And the next GM–whoever that may be–should be empowered to make more aggressive moves in order to acquire talent and accentuate/reinforce the Red Wings’ younger, more aggressive core with more aggressive moves.
Ultimately, what I said would happen happened–Steve Yzerman served as the Red Wings’ general manager at the pleasure of Christopher and Marian Ilitch, and he was not relieved of his duties until the Red Wings’ ownership began to doubt Yzerman’s ability to build upon the foundational blocks that already exist in the Wings’ rebuilding process.
He served at the pleasure of the ownership, and the ownership was not pleased enough with the job he was doing, so his role as the team’s GM has reached its conclusion.
Yes, the team has a long way to go, and yes, it’s entirely possible that, once Dylan Larkin is traded, they’ll take a step back this upcoming season. But I really do believe that the team has the coaching and leadership necessary to change its culture–to become more determined to deliver consistent play, and to play with more speed and grit on a regular basis–and I believe that there are brighter days ahead.
We may have to wait a bit for them, but the team is charging its fans too much money for tickets, merchandise, and now their in-house broadcasting network to simply blow it all up and restart from scratch.
That’s my bottom line, and it’s incredibly important to get the Larkin trade as close to “right” (even if that means “losing with dignity”) for starters…
But we are all along for the ride at this point, and it is my hope that the Red Wings’ ownership and front office, advisor Steve Yzerman included, help the Wings find the right GM for this time in their evolution.
That’s all we can really hope for right now–a brighter beginning to a new chapter in the team’s history, so this historical franchise can start making some lasting memories for its players and fans in the present and in the future.
