If the ‘Yzerplan’ had one fatal flaw, it was in mismanaging the Wings’ blueline

The Score’s Josh Wegman examines 3 reasons why Steve Yzerman’s master plan for renovating the Detroit Red Wings did not work out, and if I had to circle one and only one reason why things didn’t work out, I’d agree with Wegman’s assessment that the Wings management team mismanaged its blueline:

Detroit’s biggest weakness over the last several years has been the blue line. Seider and Edvinsson formed an excellent top pairing this past season, but the rest of the defense struggled to pull its weight, which was a major culprit in Detroit crumbling down the stretch and missing the playoffs for the 10th straight season.

In an alternate universe, defense could’ve been one of the team’s strengths.

Filip Hronek and Jake Walman are two players Yzerman should regret trading. Hronek has developed into a legitimate top-pairing defenseman. He was an ascending 25-year-old when the Red Wings shipped him to the Vancouver Canucks in 2023, even though he was young enough to fit in Detroit’s contention window. The return of first- and second-round picks wasn’t terrible, but Detroit would surely rather have Hronek anchoring the second pair behind Seider right now.

The Red Wings were unable to retain the services of Shayne Gostisbehere, too, and that really set them back…

The Walman trade was arguably Yzerman’s most puzzling move. Although Walman came into his own with the Red Wings and had good chemistry with Seider on the top pair, the Red Wings traded him – along with a second-round pick – to San Jose for future considerations during the 2024 offseason. Less than a year later, the Sharks flipped Walman to the Edmonton Oilers for a first-rounder. Last year, the Oilers deemed Walman worthy of a seven-year, $49-million extension.

If Yzerman had kept Walman and Hronek, the Red Wings wouldn’t have had to trot out Ben Chiarot in a top-four role he clearly can’t handle for the last several seasons. (To make matters worse, Yzerman gave the 35-year-old a three-year extension with a $3.85-million AAV this past season.) And the Red Wings also wouldn’t have had to give up a package including a first-round pick for 34-year-old Justin Faulk at the 2026 deadline.

Continued; Chiarot’s gotten better over time, but the Faulk trade was an over-payment…And we’ll just have to see whether he’s able to play well over the course of the next two seasons to justify his cost.

Tweet of note: Perhaps the feeling was mutual?

Those who seem to be “in the know” regarding Steve Yzerman’s demotion from general manager to advisor to CEO and governor Chris Ilitch have suggested the same thing over the course of different columns, articles and radio “hits.”

They all argue that the peculiar timing of Yzerman’s exit suggests that the GM is the one who decided to walk away from his position, whether it was due to frustration, exasperation regarding the Dylan Larkin situation, or simply wanting “out” of the GM’s role.

The Detroit News’s Bob Wojnowski adds a cogent point here:

It’s very well possible that Yzerman simply didn’t want to retool the rebuild, and chose to let more capable hands deal with the frustration of taking yet another step back in order to take steps forward.

It’s likely that stubbornness sank the ‘Yzerplan’

Sportsnet’s Sonny Sachdeva examines the “Highs and Lows” of Steve Yzerman’s tenure as the Detroit Red Wings’ general manager, and this “low” is perhaps the most damning aspect of Yzerman’s 7 years with the team:

Too used to the status quo: In truth, despite the handful of misguided signings and trades Yzerman authored, the pivotal flaw of his tenure leading the Red Wings’ front office might’ve been the moves he didn’t make. More than anything else, it was Detroit’s inability to build a competitive team around its young stars over the past seven seasons that led to Yzerman’s exit this week.

If there’s anything that will define the Yzerplan, it’s the club getting stuck in the mud, getting stagnant, falling short in finding a path back to relevancy. Rather than aggressively building around what they had, too often, Yzerman’s Red Wings simply stood pat and got passed by.

Club captain Dylan Larkin — whose request for a trade away from his boyhood club last month likely factored into the organization’s decision to change direction — essentially said as much at the end of the 2024-25 season, when he called out his front office for not adding down the stretch.

“It was hard that we didn’t do anything,” Larkin said at the time. “We didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kind of down about it. It’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice, and maybe a morale boost as well.”

Answered Yzerman: “I’m counting on our best players, our leaders, to give us a bit of a morale boost. That’s what they’re paid for, and that’s the expectation from them.”

There’s no question that something more was needed. Year after year, the Red Wings faded late in the season, when a playoff berth was on the line — over the past four campaigns combined, the club put together a 17-35-5 record in March, winning just 30 per cent of those late-season tilts, and ultimately finishing on the outside looking in.

Making matters worse, the division around them has continued to evolve and improve. While Yzerman’s Red Wings were seemingly unwilling or unable to take the type of franchise-altering swings we consistently see from the league’s elite, the clubs around them have added, built, and found progress. A new voice will get the opportunity to lead Detroit down a similar path.

Continued; arguably, as I suggested earlier this morning, the fact that Yzerman kept his counsel so very close to the vest–and his circle of advisors so very small–yielded an echo chamber which afforded Yzerman the stubbornness with which he chose to stick with the initial plan instead of revising and editing his benchmarks and goals as necessary.

I really do believe that he backed himself into a corner, and refused to ask for help when he was unable to move the franchise forward any further than the playoff periphery, and that’s what damned him to failure.

HSJ surmises that the Red Wings and Dylan Larkin can revise their break-up

The Free Press’s Helene St. James wonders aloud whether the Red Wings and Dylan Larkin can head-off their break-up:

Now [Yzerman’s] no longer running the team, and CEO Christopher Ilitch would be well served by reaching out to Larkin to see if he’ll rethink his request. For Larkin, too, this is a way to not be seen as the villain of his hometown NHL team, of abandoning the team that drafted him in 2014 and named him captain in 2021. He’s from here. His family is here. He’s built a life here.

For the Wings, it might also mean Patrick Kane returns. He and Larkin are very tight (and share an agent). Kane has talked at length about how much he has enjoyed his time in Detroit and playing for the Wings and how much his young son loves the team (specifically, getting “knucks” from players as they come off the ice from warmups). Kane reportedly is considering the Chicago Blackhawks (where he forged his future Hockey Hall of Fame career − but they’re far from looking like a playoff team these days). There’s also the Buffalo Sabres, his hometown team.

With Larkin and Kane back, the Wings look much more stable. Yes, the next general manager will need to find ways to add more quality players, but that’s been an issue for years.

Can a reconciliation work? Of course it can. Ilitch and Larkin hold a joint press conference, say they’ve decided to move forward, shake hands and pose for pictures. Or do what Columbus Blue Jackets star Zach Werenski and GM Don Waddell did when a rift erupted there: put out joint statements explaining they’d made up.

Continued (paywall); I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that it’s gonna happen.

Three questions amidst the Wings’ tumultuous offseason

In his latest “Red Light Newsletter,” The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe weighs in on the Red Wings’ tumultuous offseason:

We had a bit of a bomb dropped on us yesterday, in what’s normally the slow-news dead zone of mid-July: Steve Yzerman is out in Detroit.

Well, not “out,” at least not all the way. Instead, Yzerman has been kicked upstairs, where he’ll be an advisor to owner Chris Ilitch. That’s not quite the same as being sent to the unemployment line, but make no mistake — this is the Red Wings firing Yzerman as GM, in spirit if not in so many words.

Max Bultman goes deeper on what it all means, but in the immediate aftermath, three questions loom:

What now for the Red Wings?

Continue reading Three questions amidst the Wings’ tumultuous offseason

THW’s Wolak discusses ‘modernizing the front office’

I have a theory that one of the reasons Steve Yzerman “exited stage left” as the Red Wings’ GM is that he kept his circle of advisors too small, backed himself into a corner, and didn’t ask or know how to ask for help backing out of said corner.

To me, the small circle of advisors probably became an echo chamber, and once you’ve committed yourself to a certain kind of rebuild, and you’ve made a some signing mistakes and have been bit in the ass by free agent departures (Shayne Gostisbehere is the one that stands out the most to me, given how integral he was to the Carolina Hurricanes’ Cup run)…

Yzerman just didn’t seem to know how to adapt to the realities of business in the “new NHL.” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested as much on both the NHL Network yesterday (link to a 12-minute video) and on Sportsnet itself (6 minute video).

This morning, the Hockey Writers’ Tony Wolak argues that the franchise needs to utilize the regime change to modernize their front office’s business and analytic practices:

One of the clearest opportunities for improvement is expanding how hockey decisions are made.

Across the NHL, front offices have become increasingly specialized. Successful organizations rely on executives with expertise in professional scouting, amateur scouting, analytics, salary cap management, player development, sports science, and contract strategy to contribute to decision-making. Detroit has largely operated differently.

According to a source, Yzerman tended to close ranks rather than relying on a broad group of advisors when evaluating trades, free agents, and organizational strategy. This is why internal candidates should be considered – they likely operate differently than the closed-off Yzerman. Regardless, the next general manager should continue expanding Detroit’s hockey operations staff and foster an environment where ideas flow freely across departments. 

Continue reading THW’s Wolak discusses ‘modernizing the front office’

To quote ‘The Waterboy’: ‘Oh no, we suck again!’

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn discusses every NHL team’s offseason additions (or the lack thereof) this morning, wondering aloud how much teams have actually improved over the last two and-a-half weeks. Not shockingly, Luszczyzyn, a long-time critic of Detroit, doesn’t like what the Red Wings accomplished under Steve Yzerman:

16. Detroit Red Wings

Net Rating added: -2
In: Viktor Arvidsson, Keegan Kolesar, Daniil Tarasov
Out: Patrick Kane, David Perron, Cam Talbot

Swapping out Patrick Kane for Viktor Arvidsson is a fairly neutral move, though Arvidsson’s potential lack of availability could put that in jeopardy. And while Daniil Tarasov could be a slight upgrade over Cam Talbot at this stage of their careers, adding a fourth liner such as Keegan Kolesar doesn’t do a whole lot to replace David Perron.

As it stands, it’s not enough to make the Red Wings anywhere close to a playoff team in the East — and that’s before a Dylan Larkin trade potentially guts the team’s chances completely. 

Continued (paywall); I’m not going to deny that the Red Wings are in tough this upcoming season, and that the Larkin trade will be pivotal (if it’s still on?), but it’s the usual situation for Detroit–they’ll have to prove people wrong once again, one way or another.

That, and Perron didn’t exactly play inspiring hockey after being rushed back from abdominal surgery last season…

I’d certainly like to see the Wings add an Eeli Tolvanen or another semi-sniper from the pool of remaining free agents, but I like the signing of Arvidsson, Kolesar is more about a culture change than anything else, and Tarasov serves as a bridge to the Postava-Augustine regime.

Losing Kane hurts to be certain, but, ultimately, the Wings’ improvement or the lack thereof will be determined by the rectification of the Dylan Larkin situation, not whatever Luszczyszyn suggests is gospel on July 16th.

Mitch Albom weighs in on the ‘Yzer-split’

The Free Press’s Mitch Albom discusses the Red Wings’ decision to relieve Steve Yzerman of his duties as the Red Wings’ general manager:

Steve Yzerman is as fine a man as I’ve known in sports, and is as stubborn in his principles as he was in digging a puck out of the corners in his playing days.

So if I had to guess, this stunning development was less about the Wings telling him to go than about Yzerman seeing no happy way out.

Think about the timing. If the Wings were so dissatisfied with Yzerman’s job performance, why not let him go in April, after Detroit missed the playoffs for the 10th straight year, the seventh under Stevie Y? Why leave him on for the draft and free agency – only to dismiss him in the most down time of the hockey season, and just two months from the start of training camp?

Continue reading Mitch Albom weighs in on the ‘Yzer-split’

Morning news round-up: On the franchise’s direction, ‘whose side’ the Red Wings took, potential GM candidates, and DeBrincat and Edvinsson

Of diverse Red Wings-related note this morning:

MLive: Ansar Khan wonders whether the Red Wings will attempt to rebuild or move forward now that Steve Yzerman will no longer be the general manager:

That will depend largely on whether Larkin still wants out. If he rescinds his trade request, then the Red Wings will be all-in on trying to reach the playoffs next season. Yzerman’s moves in free agency indicated he was in win-now mode. He signed left wing Viktor Arvidsson to boost the team’s five-on-five offense and traded for Keegan Kolesar to add some much-needed toughness. He also tried hard to re-sign 37-year-old Patrick Kane, who’s apparently destined for Buffalo or back to Chicago.

If Larkin still wants out, the new GM can continue to follow Yzerman’s lead and try to get back players who can help immediately, particularly a top-line center. But that won’t be easy unless Larkin, who has a full no-trade clause, expands his list of approved destinations beyond Florida, Minnesota, Vegas and Dallas, or if a third team gets involved.

Continue reading Morning news round-up: On the franchise’s direction, ‘whose side’ the Red Wings took, potential GM candidates, and DeBrincat and Edvinsson

Video link: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman discusses the Steve Yzerman situation on the ‘NHL Tonight’

I’m sure that the NHL Network will upload this to YouTube at some point tonight or tomorrow, but, for now, NHL.com posted an 11:26 clip of the NHL Tonight crew speaking with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman regarding Steve Yzerman’s “promotion” to an advisor to Chris Ilitch today.

Update: Here’s a Twitter teaser: