It’s safe to say that the Detroit Red Wings finish fell well short of expectations. Even for Steve Yzerman loyalists, this season felt different. Instead of fighting for a playoff spot until the last few days of the regular season like the last two years, the Red Wings were squarely in a playoff position before the team rolled over and died.
This has sparked intense speculation about what Detroit’s offseason will entail and whether Yzerman can guide this team to its goals. In a wide-ranging piece on The Athletic, Max Bultman broke down Yzerman’s end-of-season media availability and what it could indicate about the Red Wings’ offseason.
There’s no question that Detroit needs to add more goal-scoring. The Red Wings finished 30th in the league in even-strength scoring, which isn’t conducive to playoff eligibility. It’s a similar problem to last season, when Detroit finished 28th in the category. There will be some options on the free agent market to help with this issue, such as Anthony Mantha of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabres.
It seems that Yzerman is keenly aware of this issue. Bultman quoted the franchise legend, saying, “We need to change some things. But (we’re) not just gonna go and get rid of everyone. But there needs to be some very blunt conversations with some of our players, and challenge them to do more and be better to get there. But ultimately, again, we need to surround them with more talent. And having said that, we still need more from some of our very key players.”
Additionally, Yzerman noted that the bottom six of the team’s forward corps need an identity change. Bultman shared another quote, saying, “So, I’d like to see us — in our bottom six, we need some production as well, and also to have some definition. Maybe a true checking line or shutdown line, and then depending on what you have in your top nine, you build your fourth line a little bit around that. If you don’t have enough production, then you’ve got to get some production on that fourth line. If you’re not big enough and hard enough or whatnot, then you need that. And truthfully, we need a little bit of all of that.”
Some of that has to do with the fact that Todd McLellan used so many different line combinations this season. He was doing his best to find a spark, but of the 10 combinations that skated in 80 or more minutes together this season, the top two lines were the only two that remained intact for much of the season.
Heading into the offseason, Yzerman can easily let aging veterans David Perron and James van Riemsdyk exit free agency or retirement. However, other players such as J.T. Compher, Michael Rasmussen, and Mason Appleton did not perform particularly well and should be traded if possible. Due to their contracts, it won’t be easy, but Yzerman may have to get more aggressive than he typically operates to apply the necessary remedies to Detroit’s issues.
At the season ending media availability the other day, Steve I Am Royalty Yzerman said the Red Wings need better players, But, Didn’t take any responsibility for the worst version of a rebuild I have seen in awhile. Clearly, In Detroit, Nepotism, And, The good Ole boys club is alive and well. Red Wings ownership is afraid to fire Steve Yzerman.
Hard to turn a team around when you drop in the draft and never get a generational talent. FA signings have been mostly bad but who wanted to play with Wings when they were so bad?
The year they dropped from 1st worst to 4th, they drafted Raymond. damn good consolation prize!!!
Wilf, please continue to babble about nepotism. Watching you continue to demonstrate that you have zero idea what the word means is quite amusing.
He kept signing third line forwards ,sixth/seventh defensemen for too much term/salary . Coop ,compher, chairot ,holl
The Yzerplan says sign a third pairing defenceman for way too much money and too many years
Naw! With the goalie fetish Yzerman has, he will get Hellebuyck!!!!
Detroit’s goaltending depth is impressive. You have Gibson, Cossa, Postava, Augustine, and Gylander, who impressed in GRG in his 8 games. Guimond dominated in the USHL. Then there’s Pradel and Miller, who continue to show their stuff at a professional level.
Cossa for Helly is not beyond belief. But packages of up to 2 other prospect tenders and another assets not named Cossa or Augustine are there!
If they can sign Rasmus Andersson would a Seider for William Nylander deal work. Man I’d love Moritz on the Leafs.
That’s funny
One basically needs to read only the very first line of the article. The Red Wings fell short of EXPECTATIONS. One can expect a fish to fly. It’s free
Wings need to retain Seider’s 60 points. Wings have barely crawled out of their historic defensive disaster, can’t be trading away the thin core now.
Mantha. ? Who rights these articles. A moron. We had him he sucked
Yzerman loves signing old, washed-up forwards instead of trading away draft capital or prospects for the kinds of players they actually need. Let every single UFA go this offseason (especially Kane). It’s like he’s waiting for their prospects to turn into superstars and trying to buy time with guys like Perron and van Riemsdyk but most of them likely aren’t going to pan out. I’d like to see him actually get aggressive instead of having the same old, half-assed offseason we’ve become accustomed to.