The Red Wings were quiet at the trade deadline which came as a surprise to many with Detroit being in a playoff spot at the time. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that there were a couple of reasons for that. GM Steve Yzerman felt that the asking prices were way too high for his liking while he was reluctant to part with any of his prospects. Even if Detroit is able to lock down the final Wild Card spot and end their seven-year playoff drought, they’re still in the process of building up their roster. It appears that Yzerman had no interest in taking any shortcuts when it comes to their long-term plan.
Elsewhere in the East:
- While the Bruins papered Mason Lohrei back to AHL Providence to keep him eligible to play down there for the stretch run, that may not happen. Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters including Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald that he feels the young blueliner will be up for the rest of the season. The 23-year-old has done well in his first pro campaign, getting into 39 games with Boston so far where he has a dozen points along with 61 blocks while averaging nearly 17 minutes a night.
- With the Blue Jackets playing out the stretch and their back end being a bit thinned out due to injuries and the Andrew Peeke trade, the fact they haven’t recalled David Jiricek has been a surprise to some. Head coach Pascal Vincent told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link) that they’re prioritizing him playing big minutes with AHL Cleveland, a team that has been hit hard as of late due to recalls. Jiricek has played in 36 NHL games this season; he’d accrue a season toward UFA eligibility if he gets to 40. Speculatively, that could be playing a role in them holding him down there as well.
Yzerman clearly picked the wrong coach but because of his gigantic ego he won’t admit it or switch coaches.
Strongly agree.
And when Yzerman hands that coach forwards that are defensive nighmares (Kane, Fabbri, Perron, Raymond, Veleno) it all begins to fall apart.
He also signed Holl ,Chariot Copp mediocre players . Blocking young players like Berggren , Edvinsson. Kostin was useful player for oilers. guess lalonde did not like him?
The Red Wings have too many forwards who are defensive liabilities. If Yzerman plans on keeping some of those forwards (Kane, Raymond, Perron, Fabbri) then he better seek out a couple Nicklas Lidstrom”s to help cover their serious shortcomings…
Sort of agree on the defensive liability angle. Contribution to scoring with massive negative plus/minus tells us they are not getting the defensive part of the game. Too many opponents score from prime areas with them just looking on, or worse no where to be found. Its fixable, but has to be acknowledged first by both the coaching staff and the players themselves. Open opponents in the D zone’s primo scoring areas is a flaming hot emergency. There are 2 of these who don’t seem to see that.
Of course Jiricek will play in Cleveland the rest of the year. If he gets his 40 there’s no doubt he may move on after the way he’s been treated. They told him he not one of their top 6 defenders. What a laugh! We have guys scoring own goals on defense. Absolute joke.
There are at east 25 other team that would love to have him!
Here are some RedWing “top scorers” who’s plus minus shows the need for some added instruction and practice on neutral and defensive zone assignments and responsibilities.
# Name Pos G A Pts +/-
23 Lucas Raymond L 24 36 60 (17)
57 David Perron L 13 22 35 (13)
14 Robby Fabbri C 16 13 29 (11)
90 Joe Veleno C 11 15 26 (18)