Its possible Steve DID have big plans for today, without an interview from him we wont know yet. I suspect perhaps he thought he had a shot at a Stamkos or Marchessault or someone.
That said, the positive I take away is he didnt take a swing, whiff, then try to compensate by throwing money at players who dont deserve it.
I think any sane hockey fan is looking at a lot of todays signings, especially the higher dollar and term ones, and thinking “really? For him!??”
The good news is the cap is going to go up substantially the next few seasons, and now Detroit is poised to be able to take big swings at the next few FA classes
Even if his body lasts his skills won’t and that contract is brutal for any team let alone one that has so much invested in Tavares, Matthews, Marner, etc.
I disagree, it doesn't matter who their GM is when Shanahan is in charge. It clearly isn't gonna work. Their downfall never stopped years ago when they kept him around despite repeated playoff failures. He somehow avoids all blame for it lol.
The idea I've seen being passed around is just to LTIR him on Robadias Island when his body inevitably fails. Is that a solid plan? Who knows, but i can at least follow the logic. They have to get better now while they at least have a window to win, so they're not too worried about what it looks like in 6 years if he's LTIR in 3. Plus, they needed the term to bring down the AAV. If it works out like that, it's some tidy work. If it backfires in any way, you're going to be right on the money.
Agree. We didn't jeopardize the future, which is the most important part. I think we are underestimating the value the rookies will bring in next year, plus having Edvinsson over 82.
But I don't think we were in on Stamkos at all, whatever the media says. I think there is zero chance he would've stayed in the division AND signed with Yzerman after they played hardball in Tampa
Let’s be real, Kane is playing 70 maximum
Edit: lol, guy would have missed a dozen games in the half season he played were it not for the ASB and I’m getting downvoted? Y’all clowns
What makes you say that? ~~He didn't miss a game last year after he joined~~ and seemed to improve with every game. What makes you think he can't play a full season?
Edit: He did miss 1-2 games, but it was unrelated to his hip resurfacing. I think he's got tons left in the tank. He wants that bonus money
The biggest thing for Kane is that he's finally able to train like a pro athlete this summer. I'd assume he hasn't been able to go all out for at least three offseasons before last year. That should up his durability and give him a bit more go and power on ice. If everything went right we should expect an even better Kane this fall.
He got injured on Jan 14th and missed 8 games after that, not playing again until Feb 10th. He got lucky that the All-Star break fell in the middle there or he probably would have missed more.
It's actually the opposite, and I know you corrected yourself, but, put on a graph, Kane's production last season looks like a pair of boobs, starts mid, gets better, starts to dive, gets injured, comes back mid, gets better, starts to dive.... And then the last 10 games it looks more like a balloon losing air, just wiggly lines up and down
The way I’ve been looking at the moves today is that even if we did land the big fish in Stamkos, that move wasn’t going to make us a cup contender. We’re still building just to even make the playoffs, we’re not at a point yet where signing a 34 year old Stamkos puts us into a big cup window or anything. I’d have loved to bring in a name like Stamkos for a couple seasons to push us into the playoffs, but in the end I want to see a cup. I’m fine not taking a big swing this year and letting the core develop another year, and we’ll see what we’re working with next time around.
This is the best take I've heard yet. I get that patience is growing thin in Hockeytown, but Steve Yzerman hasn't minced words when it comes to building into a sustainable Cup contender -- and that takes time. Our best prospects are 18-22 yrs old right now, and Larkin/Cat are young enough still to be productive when the kids are blossoming. Keeping the cap in check after 2 straight spending sprees in '22 & '23 is the right move, and I'm 90% convinced that there's a trade coming. After the FA period died down last year, Yzerman went & grabbed DeBrincat, so who's to say that Laine or someone else isn't heading to Detroit?
#🤞
I am very glad Stevie didn't make a splash today. This team isn't in that stage of its competitive arc yet. And there were a lot of overpays going around. With mostly status quo signings, I choose to read the tea leaves that he's expecting some movement from our prospects come training camp. And left just enough gaps in the potential lineup to accommodate some guys taking that next step. I'm definitely not as hype as I've been the past couple of free agency days, but I hope to be come September.
I know the complaints are the vocal majority, as most who have a better understanding of what Yzerman is doing aren't going to defend him every complaint post. But it's certainly refreshing seeing posts of people who actually listen to what Yzerman says. He said it in 2019 and probably every year since. Things are going to take time, and he wants to build through the draft. The team has improved every year since he took over GM. We would all love to see playoffs, and based on the annual improvement, this should ideally be the year. Plus, there's so much time left this off-season for things to take place.
I wouldn't say that Yzerman went out and got Debrincat. It was more like Debrincat forced his way on to Detroit. In fact, at times it felt like Yzerman was hesitant on pulling the trigger on the deal.
Maybe Laine has some family in the UP but otherwise I don't see him strong arming himself over.
He didn't like Ottawa, that's for sure. But there were other, better teams (Dallas was also part of it) that he could have gone to. Detroit was absolutely #1 on the list, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion & Ottawa was trying to get a haul for him since they gave up a 7th overall pick to acquire him from Chicago. Give Yzerman *some credit* for getting it done...
Laine was just an example of what caliber players are on the trade market right now. I don't think he'll be a Red Wing next year, it was just the 1st one I thought of (Zegras, Necas, etc). I'd honestly be shocked -- in a good way -- if Stevie moved for Laine!
Honestly I can't remember the last time I was excited about FA as a Wings fan, maybe way back in the day when it was rumored we had a shot at Parise and Suter before they signed with the Wild. It just feels like now we don't ever make any big deals or land a big name that is going to make an instant impact. Got way too spoiled during the late 90s early 2000s, lol.
That’s my issue with his article. He massively undersold the large deals being signed. Normally he tries to write in a way that offers both sides of the story but I don’t think he bothered to consider the downside of participating in a bidding frenzy for guys.
We added value without term. Gustafsson for less money and less years than Ghost? Win. Letting Perron walk regardless of price? Win. Talbot for that price and term? Win. Fischer back for 1 and cheap? Win.
Not getting into that absurd Stamkos contract or some of the other things that happened? Win.
Abso-fuckin-lutely. The people complaining about *not* throwing all of our cap money & long-term deals at 34/35-yr-old FA's (albeit talented old men) are likely the same people who were throwing a fit over the bad FA signings the past 2 yrs, & the lack of a "youth movement". This was a much better FA signing day than it may seem on a surface level... and it's amazing how many folks seem to think that this is exactly what the roster will be in October.
Agree, I love the lack of deals with term attached, my only potential misgiving is that I still think there is a chance that there is minimal room for prospects to make the team. If Johansson, Berggren, and then one other forward(Kasper, Danielson, Mazur, even Soderblom, etc.) get significant games this year, and not like the crap they did with Edvinsson last season, then I'll be quite happy. I don't even care if they regress, can't rebuild from ground zero with veterans so work some youth in and trust that they didn't bomb with their drafting. Still looks very much like a wildcard at best roster, but last season was pretty exciting compared to the previous few before that, lack of youth the only real disappointment last year.
Agreed. All while (in theory) keeping spots open for some prospects to come up. I expect to slightly regress this year, points-wise, but it'll be an overall positive with the development of some of the young players.
Honestly man, like I hate to do this again after the trade deadline but we need some internal growth, we have Berg, Kasper, Danielson and Mazur who need to prove their worth and so many guys like Copp to play to their pay grade
Who did he really sign?
He got Gust to replace Ghost to run one of our power plays
ASP is projected to be that and better but he won’t be here for another season or two
Chiarot - Seider
Maatta - Petry
Gustafsson - Holl
Lagesson
Thats not what i think will happen, but I hate that it's even possible to build a 7 man d group without Edvinsson or Johansson in it.
Contribute by not having a spot to showcase what they potentially could do? I personally don't think there is a whole lot in the defensive prospects behind Edvinsson that are in N.A. but I'd like to see them get some opportunity, hopefully they will but I certainly won't be surprised in the least if they do not.
We won by not signing any of the ridiculous deals that were handed out.
As for short term outlook we look to be about equal to where we were last year. In net we're more consistent but we'll need the good version of Chiarot and Petry to show up more times than the bad versions of them. We all know Yzerman is more focused on the long term though. If there's a big improvement it'll come from Seider and Raymond being better and Edvinsson being good in his first full year. Yzerman is waiting for those guys to really come into their own to go hard for playoffs. All of his big additions (Kane, DeBrincat) are calculated and take advantage of situations where he can get them for cheap. That's why he's going after Trouba when everyone in NY wants him out.
There are very few deals I look at from today and go "man I wish we did that."
We don't have to throw money at free agency every year to improve. We have prospects getting to the point where it would be reasonable to expect them to play significant time this year in the types of roles that we'd be signing these free agents for.
Looking at the Kane deal, we may have offered 6-7M a season to Stamkos, but like you said it would only have been for a couple of years. There was no competing with the overpayment by the Preds.
The Predators signed a guy who scored 40 goals and 80 points last season at $8M for the next four years.
Stamkos signed for $125k per year more than Debrincat for the same term.
How is that an overpay?
When Cat's deal expires he will not yet be 30. Stamkos will be 39 when his deal expires. Age and the contract term are big factors in the assessment that the deal was an overpay, which it clearly was.
Debrincat is 26, and Stamkos is 34. Stammer is good, but he ain't scoring 40 goals a year into his late 30s. Especially when he's not playing with Kucherov and Point
Naw, today was good. I'm excited about adding Talbot and Gustafson. I'm even more excited about re-signing Kane and Fischer and not re-signing Ghost. Although I'll miss Perron, I believe he isn't worth his new contract. For the first time in a while, I don’t believe we took on a single bad contract on July 1st. Plus, we already had a lot of pieces to the puzzle so today we were just adding to it. I think we are moving in the right direction. It's exhausting how some people always have to be so negative.
Totally agree. I think we can be optimistic about Johansson, Mazur and Kasper. Not many teams carry three rookies at once but I think they'll all get looks. Really important that the kids get opportunity and I think today set us up for that for this year and years to come
I don't get the negativity. We brought back the two most important of our four UFA forwards in Kane and Fischer. Perron was overpaid for a forward of his age, and he is already so slow that he's barely effective at even strength. Sprong puts up good offensive numbers, but his lack of defense is not ideal. We'll be better off without those two.
On D, Ghost has the offensive edge over Gustafsson, but Gustafsson is better at actual defense. The only real downside there was Walman, but he's being replaced by Ed. The top six should be at least as good overall as last season, and maybe play some better D as a group.
In goal, we don't have a clear #1 but we have a group of goalies from which we should get acceptable results. The situation is improved over what it was.
All this and we will have quite a bit of cap space left over even after we sign Mo and Raymond.
The feeling is that the team is mostly the same as last year. And the team last year didn’t make the playoffs.
Most of the new faces don’t feel like upgrades over the guys they are replacing.
The team is already better without Perron and Reimer. Ghost was great on our pp but gave the puck away a ton as well. Plus we have a full year of Kane, so our offense is going to go up from that as well.
Kane is absolutely more important, but Perron was still a 50+ point guy and crafty on the power play, let’s not act like losing him helps. As of right now we’ll probably miss him in the top 6 but I hated his new contract so I get it.
Perron costed us points in the standings just as much as he helped gain them. He won’t be missed. I like not seeing us be short handed with 3 minutes remaining every game
Brother our offense was not the problem last year. We were one of the highest scoring teams in the league. We needed to improve defense and goaltending, which we did both without losing much, if any, offense.
That’s fair. Maybe the selfish side of me wants to see them have a truly game changer on the offensive side. Maybe Raymond can continue to grow into that
What makes you think the top 6 will be as good next season? We lost Perron and added nobody. I hope I’m wrong but I’m not expecting Kane to be a ppg player again, at least not for a full season. Our entire offense was punching above their weight all year so regression is expected.
Even if we are as good as we were last year we finished with 91pts. It’s unlikely that that will get us into the playoffs next year.
I’m happy we didn’t make a bad signing and there should be room for some of the kids to play but I don’t see how the moves we’ve made so far could improve our outlook
Perron is addition by subtraction. Our offense was underperforming because our defense was atrocious. You can't score goals in your own zone. As long as Raymond continues from where he left off, we will be alright.
We upgraded on D with a full season of Ed. We replaced ghost with a better defensive defenseman and got marginally better in net.
If we improved just a little and can avoid the epic collapses of seasons past, we will be alright. I'm not extremely impressed either but I don't think it was awful. I would've like to see Petry and Holl dealt though. I suppose it could still happen.
I get that ppl dont like Perron because of awful penalties and he is slow. But acting like 50point 2nd liner who was pretty much only player who could dig pucks out of the corner in this team is addition by subtraction seems wild to me lol
Dude was responsible for more goals against than anyone I've ever seen. He's one of the worst +/- players on the team which is tough to do when you're also on the power play unit. He's an absolute traffic cone and turnover machine.
If you only look at his good plays then sure, I see where you're coming from. The totality of his work is abysmal.
I think it was time to move on, but you are 100% right that he did things no one else on the team could, particularly along the boards. There will be facets of his game that this team will miss next year for sure.
I agree! And we have plenty of room for Mo and Lucas + some flexibility for later in the summer / in season. And if we regressed, we signed a lot of very movable-at-the-deadline contracts today
It’s pretty clear at this point that yzerman’s *mainly* interested in short term deals while letting several prospects graduate. We win by not signing Stamkos, Marchessault, etc.
We didn't sacrifice our future and kept it flexible on 1 and 2yr deals. I think that in it's self is a win. Hopefully, our rookies star pushing for their spots and get playing time this year.
No bad signings is a win and Kane probably has the most favorable deal out of almost any contract from the last few days, still plenty of time after today to continue to fill things out.
The one thing about Detroit’s young media is they have a huge hard on for certain players and completely over value them.
Walman is very popular among Red Wings twitter and Reddit but he is not good defensively. He was healthy scratched down the stretch.
Ghost is a very good offensive defenseman but is a complete liability in his own end.
Perron is a good leader, was strong on the puck, and good on the power play but not all that good defensively or 5on5.
Sprong could score but is also a complete liability defensively.
Reading the tea leaves, it’s clear why these players were not prioritized. Yzerman wants this team to improve the way they defend.
I'm not one that ever thought Walman was a legit top pair, or even 2nd pair guy and I'm not going to try and tell anyone that I think he is overly strong defensively, but it seems that people are now happy to drag the guy after he's traded for not being good enough while overlooking how crappy all the guys on defense not named Seider and Edvinsson are. Petry and Chiarot are brutal, as is Holl. Maatta is ok as a 3rd pair guy, so is Gustafsson, he might be 2nd pair here given how bad the defensive group is as a whole(Holl). I don't see how Walman is the guy eveyone dumps on out of that group unless they are just people that will do anything to put a positive spin on every player transaction Yzerman makes.
Someone had to go, and ideally it would have been at least 2 more guys, but that doesn't make Walman the worst of the group, he just didn't have the worst contract.
Yeah, I agree with that. I think all those guys that you mentioned are what they are.
I guess the point is I don’t think the Wings lost anything that’s worth worrying about. I don’t think they’re worse but I do agree that they’re also not better.
That's about where I'm at. I'm happy that the Wings didn't tie up a bunch of cap dollars and roster spots July 1, but I'll only remain happy if they actually, finally shift to a youth movement this season.
Walman is not overrated. After today, there is absolutely no excuse to shoot a second round pick into the sun. Idc about getting rid of him, but it makes absolutely no sense the way we did it.
Ghost had a good role in the team. If we added ANY defenseman of note that that was actually good at defense, then I wouldn’t care, but we didn’t.
Perron wasn’t replaced. That’s the issue. To think he had no value is ridiculous.
The real issue is we didn’t get better. You can’t make a single argument that this team is BETTER. We stayed the same at best.
I’ll never know why a 2nd had to be added to move Walman. We saw some pretty unremarkable pieces get signed for similar AAV as you noted. Two things can be true though. Walman isn’t as good as Detroit fans want to believe and we probably shouldn’t have had to attach an asset to move him.
Also don’t disagree that the Wings are better but they are not worse.
I believe you and also am disappointed. We seem to be getting a team that could grow together and when you're switching off players all the time I don't know how you get that gel. Yzerman knows better but it felt like the right direction. Players get better.
Seider: Underrated because despite the numbers, he's playing the hardest minutes in the league
His linemate most of the year, who was playing a lot of those same minutes: overrated, not good defensively.
Wut.
Liked today more than I thought I would. We're a deal for a RHD away from set imho. Necas would be primo icing on top of that.
Always have to ask on FA day, what deal do I wish we would've signed? Stamkos overpay amongst many others. Less is more, lots of trade targets left
I’m happy we didn’t give out any of the Nashville contracts. Marchessault AAV is good but too much term for my taste. The Skjei deal is absolutely awful on both AAV and term though, I’ve never been impressed by his play.
>The Skjei deal is absolutely awful on both AAV and term though, I’ve never been impressed by his play.
Yeah Nashville bite hard on that career year he had. He is pretty much ideal 2nd pair LHD tbf but that deal is looking brutal
>I’m happy we didn’t give out any of the Nashville contracts. Marchessault AAV is good but too much term for my taste.
Kinda same. After Chiarot/Copp/Compher contracts we really cant just hand out term so kinda happy how this Day went
I Think we stayed dead even at worst..... but we lost Ghost to open up space fro Edvinsson and Johansson and Gustafsson is here to pick up slack if they stumble. Talbot is an upgrade,We brought Fisher and Kane back we still need to ink Mo and Lucas.
There's also that trade rumor going around regarding Trouba. Yzerman doesn't take many risks and this team slumped twice last season and still just missed. We're fine. The Wings aren't at the "Big splash on 7/1" stage yet.
I love Yzerman as much as the next guy, but the criticism is warranted. Although I’m more upset about the bad contracts in prior years than the inactivity yesterday.
Kind of a weird one from Max. Sure we lose Ghost and Perron's offense, but they were both defensive liabilities who didn't skate great.
A lot of this still hinges on what this Trouba trade ends up being, if it isn't dead. If we get Kakko in the deal, that could pay huge dividends in the end for us.
It’s not weird at all. He points out that we didn’t get better through FA which is very fair to state. He also argues that the wings are clearly looking to improve from within which seems to be Yzermans vision.
From what the media is saying it sounds dead. NY needed the cap space to do stuff in FA but all the big names are gone now. Sure they will need space to sign Shesterkin next year but by then Trouba’s wife will be done her residency so he will be open to a trade.
Nothing weird about it. Yzerman himself talked about our need to be better defensively and be harder to play against. And, he hasn't addressed any of that -- instead we lost 50+ goals on offense. Gustafsson is slightly better on defense than Gostisbehere, but he's not exactly difficult to play against. I really hope Mazur makes the team on the checking line. Also hope there's room for either Kasper or Danielson. That would make our lack of moves make more sense. Still, 4 goalies and too many mediocre defensemen is terrible roster management.
It was literally the first day of the offseason. Still a ton of time to flesh out the roaster and no bad signings that we would all complain about in a year (Copp, Holl, etc.). I’ll take that all day.
I get the sentiment. While the signings today were financially good, the actual roster construction is confusing to say the least
The wings have 4 back up goalies and 9 defensemen on the roster currently.
There’s only 1 buy out slot available for this season (Abdelkader & Yamamoto have the other 2).
Very curious to see what trades may come in the future
FWIW, there is only a limit on the number of contracts you can retain salary on, not the number of buyouts you can have at once. Any buyout this offseason could only come if we have an arbitration case and only for players above a certain salary (Holl, for example, is too "cheap" for this second buyout window).
Yzerman was the most overt and direct I’ve ever seen when several times at the end of the season he mentioned team defense. Our lacking was good defense and two way forwards that create offense from defensive smarts. You aren’t going to win our division running and gunning if you don’t have a 34, 86 or the other 2 88’s as your forwards. Let’s see the defensive first team he is putting together for this season.
Haven't read Bultman's assessment yet, but count me among the unimpressed. Not being sure if we got any better or worse should be very concerning for a team that just missed the playoffs (and that was only in contention due to a couple hot streaks). The word for that is stagnant.
I'm not sure if there was a realistic path to taking a big step forward through free agency this season, and I'm glad the contacts Yzerman did give out were reasonable, but I'm not inspired looking at the current roster. This looks like a team poised to be picking at 15 again next year, and that's not a very promising place to be.
Season hasn't even started, there is a lot to say about players individually, but more important is how they play as a team.
We just don't know how good or bad Detroit will be yet, the chemistry can be great and what would be on paper a shit team can be really solid.
It's just speculation at this point.
Off the top of my head the only deals I feel we missed out on, without considering where or what the players wanted was..
Teravainen and walker.
Others like stammer would be nice but come at a big price. Seems like we need one more top 6 forward so interested to see what happens
Some of the deals today make Copps look team friendly. I’m looking at you Stephenson. I’m sad we didn’t do more, but prices were insane. Lindholm and his almost 8 a year for 7 years will not age well.
At the deadline I was upset we didn’t do more to make the playoffs. I’ve been adamant we needed to make the playoffs of July 1st would be quiet. Well here we are. Let’s see what the rookies can do. We have several open spots including 2nd line winger . Let’s go!
Agreed. Some crazy term being thrown about especially Toronto and Nashville. Be interesting to see if decent players are being bandied about with draft pucks (ie - Yzerman).
Defense is similar to last years, maybe even an upgrade with Edvinsson for a full year and Gustafsson as a better defender (slightly) that Gostisbehere. Right side is still a concern but IMO it was a concern last year as well. Goaltending got better with Talbot as a tandem with Lyon. Kane for a full year rather than 50 games is an upgrade.
Only concern I have is losing Perron and Sprong’s goal scoring. If we don’t sign any of the remaining free agent wingers, then the rookies will have to step up big time. But, you add in hopefully a healthy Larkin and year 4 Raymond, maybe a less snake bitten Cat. Is the team better than last year’s? Maybe, maybe not. But I don’t mind Yzerman being conservative after seeing the contracts handed out today.
I still think that Berggren can step up in that Sprong role, as depth scorer. He might not have same amount of goals but i think he can drive a play bit more.
As of Perron i have no idea how to replace his role in top 6. We are pretty small at FWD and we dont have that many players who can go in to the corners and dig the puck back. Berggren is too small to play in *our* top 6 and i doubt that Kasper, Mazur or ND are ready to step in as top 6 player.
We definitely regressed, but I think that’s fine. We had 0 rookies on the team last year minus the last month of Edvinsson. This is a rebuilding team, that wasn’t particularly in line with that.
What I don’t get is trading Walman for cap space we aren’t using. We haven’t replaced him and that’s going to hurt.
So far this looks like the year we give the kids a "real" chance to make the team. It could all change tomorrow but as of this moment guys like Edvinsson, Johansson, Mazur, Kasper, Berggren, and Danielson can see the door open to earn a spot. Not all will but some of them will be on the big team come opening day. Edvinsson has a spot locked up and probably Johansson too unless he totally shits the sheets in the preseason.
I still think a Trouba trade could happen. Getting him and losing Holl would be a good thing.
The issue isn't the goalie, it's the defense in front of him. His stats look better than what we have, but he also played behind a much better defense last season. We have to hope that ours is much improved this year.
I think the best thing that happened yesterday is we didn’t sign any long term deals with 30+ year olds. The most important thing is maintaining flexibility for the cup window with this core in a few years. Improving the team for next year and making a playoff push is secondary.
I think he pretty well nails it, personally. I'm not really disappointed either. Does the team look a bit worse than last year? Yeah, 100% except in net. But to me this looks like one of a few possibilities:
* Yzerman convinced ownership to be a little more conservative in free agency because we need to open up space for the young 'uns to come in if the team is going to have a chance to be a serious contender.
* The decision makers saw the stupid money flying with the first cap increase and knew that they would hamstring themselves if they jumped in, accepting a quiet year so they can actually do something down the road - especially with a couple of our own cap hits coming off the roster after this season.
* Spending huge in FA was never the answer, and they have a trade or two up their sleeves to improve the roster, with the team leadership correctly guessing that a few teams were going to overspend and end up in cap hell.
Any of those options are pretty good to me. I'd love to see the team make the playoffs this year, but if the choices were "overpay a couple people, barely squeak into the playoffs, not make room for the kids, and screw your cap space" or "still be competitive but take a slight step back for one season to better set up for long term success" I'll take the second choice anytime.
People don’t realize starting the season with Edvinsson and Kane are practically signings themselves…if Albert Jo can chip in as well then that’s great, an assumed upgrade in net as well…looking good right now without really having done too much
They signed/re-signed one of the best free agents available to a very good contract. Anyone who thought they would sign anything more than depth/role players hasn't been paying attention since Yzerman took over as gm. It's all stop gaps while the prospects develop. I would expect next year to be the same if not even less active since there will be a lot of young talent pushing there way into the NHL.
I think Steve thought he had a legit chance at getting stamkos , which would’ve made this a solid day. I really like the Gustafson signing and that he didn’t overpay for any other forwards. I believe there is still a trade to make for trouba but that trade won’t help us much unless kakko is involved. Ultimately it’s up to the guys on the roster and any prospects that show they are ready. Really would’ve loved to see Matt Roy signed though.
5.75 is a great number for a top 4 RHD. Brady skjei got 7M…
Stacked seems really generous. ASP looks good wallinder looks promising and Ed will be in Detroit from the start next year but anyone telling you they are stacked is just drinking kool aid
Ed and ASP the only two that look to be more than 3rd pair guys. Agree that stacked is a very generous term, they're stacked in numbers, short on high end talent outside of ASP.
This free agency has been super meh, but that’s okay when there’s a ton of overpays and excessively long contracts. I just hope we didn’t dump Walman’s cap space and that 2nd rounder for nothing.
Sounds like a perfect article for a journalist to write after today.
If they do well this season you can say you liked some of the signings and point at this article. If they do poorly this year you can say you didn’t like some of the signings and point at this article.
Max is playing it safe.
I'm still not sure how the Walman piece fits into what's happened over the last 24 hours but I think it must be a "more to the story" that we may just never know.
Agree with a lot of the comments saying we won by staying out of the bidding wars - you have to be realistic that we are not in a competitive window and are still in the transition stage to the next wave of young prospects. We need to be making moves with players like Berggren, Edvinsson, Mazur, Danielson, Kasper in mind, not signing more players to block their progression.
I’m not bullish at all. I don’t at all like what Yzerman did yesterday. What’s the point in having 4 goalies? Could this stifle Cossa’s development if one of these guys ends up in the minors? What’s with all of the LDs? How are the old, mediocre vets going to impact the young guys? What was the point in dumping Walman for free only to do…nothing with the extra cap space?
Throw in Trouba at 2RD and our D will be much better than last year. Forward group is not a step forward, but it got much younger. Hopefully young guys will step up to close the gap. G became better and now league average.
Overall I’m just happy we haven’t made any stupid signings, like Stamkos or Tanev
I’m still expecting news on the trade front, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of roster changes. That said, I won’t be surprised if we take a step back this year. As this sub hates to hear, we weren’t supposed to be in the position we were this year, it was ahead of schedule. Course correction impending.
That being said, if some prospects pop off I think we could be on the cusp again. Just gotta stay healthy and fix whatever mentality leads to eating shit with Larks out.
I feel like Max is pretty fair here. I personally don't mind going from Gostisbehere to Gustafsson (who I think with an increased role on the PP not being behind Fox could see a slight uptick in points), but this team was out over their skis last year looking at their possession metrics and team shooting percentage and there's not really anything we could do this offseason to bridge that gap with how many roster spots are spoken for already. We're certainly a softer team today than we were yesterday losing Perron. We haven't meaningfully improved an offense that struggled to generate quantity and quality chances. We haven't meaningfully improved a defense that struggled to prevent quantity and quality chances. This isn't a bad thing though in the long run if it does mean getting the younger players (especially on forward) some reps.
I think he's being fair too, especially considering his take was only considering 2024-25. But I think one of the biggest successes of today was how it sets us up for the future. Not a huge regression from a team that missed the playoffs on a technicality, and nothing huge committed for the future.
And tbh, I don't think anyone behind us in the division passed us today, and Tampa arguably got worse. So we'll see. Last year we were excited to be on the bubble, this year I think we can expect nothing less. Improvement!
We need a 2nd pairing RD. And the lack of signings today make me question why Walman was traded or what the big miss was, because given the current state there was no need to ship a 2nd round pick out.
I think it's possible the Wings regress - they had a high shooting percentage and weren't great 5-on-5. They lost some offense, so it's fair to be concerned. That said, It's the first day of free agency and who knows what's going to happen between now and the start of the season. They could also see improvements from within both offensively and defensively.
I will say, I don't get his criticism of the Ghost-Gustafsson swap - suggesting the Wings should have just kept Ghost instead. Maybe it came down to Yzerman being unwilling to give term? Unless Max knows something the rest of us don't, I'm not sure Ghost would have signed that deal to stay in Detroit. Not to mention, by the time he signed it, he might've realized he wasn't going to get the AAV and term he was looking for heading into today.
I think Bultman is correct. The Red Wings are not as good today as they were at the end of last season. Aside from a 37 year old goalie who may be better than what we had, the loss of Ghost-Bear, Walman and Perron and the addition of replacement-level players is about as exciting as watching a wet dish rag mildew. I am becoming disenchanted with Yzerman and his rebuild which is now dragging on to a 5th year.
I don't see playoffs with the team as configured. Sorry, I just don't.
I think this article might be one of Max's worst. Love the dude, but this take is literal hot garbage.
For the better part of Yzerman's tenure as a GM he has continually preached patience. He's said he wants to ice a reasonably competitive team and let the prospects develop. And all we've done is bitch and moan about the overpays in free agency - some of which are egregiously bad like Holl.
Yzerman sits a free agency out - where Stamkos got 8m and we got Kane to less money and less term who's essentially just as good. Gostisbehere got a fair contract, but we got a defenseman who's just as good for less money and less term. We kept a solid 4th liner, and opened spots on scoring lines for Berggren. Mazur, Kasper, Danielson and to a lesser extent Soderblom will all get chances to make the team.
On defense, we cleared out some cap space, and Johansson, Edvinsson and maybe even Wallinder will have a chance in camp to impress.
The goalie situation literally got significantly more consistent.
And, the growth of Lucas Raymond should continue to carry this team.
How anyone is looking at this offseason as stagnant is beyond me - the future is finally here and everyone is mad we didn't go overpay Tanev until he's 50?
Yeah, I wouldn't say I'm excited about the team as of today.
Resigning Kane is great.
More of the same at goaltending.
No improvement at RHD or defense at all.
No improvement at forward.
Time will tell, but Max seems spot on.
Looks like they have to work the trade route now. Trouba or maybe Marner? Both have a love/hate relationship with their fans and maybe need a change of scenery??
The first day of free agency is an artificial construct. It’s just the *start* of team moves. Sure, we missed out on a couple of big names but we have all summer to marginally improve positions or trade for guys. If we do nothing else all summer I won’t feel great about our moves, as I don’t think we *improved* but we didn’t get worse. But clearly we have to improve to compete in the hellscape of the Atlantic Division. But there’s plenty of time left and it’s not like Yzerman doesn’t know we need to improve our defense.
I mean we had to upgrade the D and the goalies.
Markström, Ullmark, Gibson were clear upgrades. No dice.
As for the D, we could fit in Roy with the contract he got. Nope.
This is underwhelming.
I mostly like what the Wings did.
I assume Yzerman took a run at Stamkos, but honestly 4x8M is a lot, for me.
I like the Gustafsson, partly because i really was not a fan of Gostisbehere.
I liked Fischer last year, do bringing him back was nice.
And the Kane deal is, I think, great. A full season of a healthy Kane is probably ar least 80 points, and if they happen to make the playoffs this year, maybe he re-signs again.
But what I like most is that he didn't sign anyone to a deal longer than two years, and with only 10 F accounted for, maybe a couple of promotions are in the cards or maybe they sign a Tarasenko or one of the remaining FA forwards to a one-year deal.
Also, with so many G and D, I sort of assume there is something else happening.
I read the article and while I get where he’s coming from I think I still disagree. I didn’t want Perron back at all. Ottawa can have him on a continued decline for that ridiculous term. Only guy who signed with an AAV I thought we could’ve matched/exceeded that I’m really bummed about was Marchessault.
Now, if Steve went into yesterday with the intention of making bigger signings and they just struck out…then idk, maybe you shouldn’t have spent the last two offseasons making the exact kind of deals other teams got panned for yesterday 🤷🏼♂️
But thankfully, this probably forces them to play youngsters. I’d rather regress playing them than have them be blocked by more veteran stopgaps. Also I am a Nate Danielson truther. Put him in the middle on a Kane-DeBrincat line and that could make everyone forget about Perron in the top six.
Another development year, Talbot and consistency won’t be the swing we need. Kane sticking around is great but he’s not the game changer he once was. Losing Perron stings the locker room, not many like him in the locker room. Defense is still sub par. We should still be a high powered offense but lacking enough elsewhere that playoffs feel like a stretch. My uneducated opinion!
Gustafsson is definitely a bit of a downgrade from Gostisbehere, but idk if Ghost is taking that deal in Detroit, and even if he does I'm not sure he would produce the same way he did last season.
Losing Perron's production will definitely hurt, but that contract he got from Ottawa would absolutely suck. His skating just isn't good enough to be effective at 5 on 5 and I don't think he has a spot on the top power play unit anymore.
I still think we need one more RHD and ideally another top 6 forwards if we want a real shot at making the playoffs this year. All the teams that were in front of us seem to be even better this year, so it's definitely gonna be a tough season, but I think with the improvement in net, and growth from younger players (plus hopefully Larkin can stay healthy), we should be competitive.
It was very likely this team on paper would be destined to take a slight step back next year without doing something drastic.
I like the short term deals and I hope this leads to the kids getting more playing time.
Yeah but we didn't add anything. Lose a trash D get a trash D lose a trash goalie get two more trash goalies
Resign Kane
This team last year missed the playoffs. We need to get real players not bargain basement dudes
We? We got better at goaltending, and worse everywhere else. For a team that only reached 91pts last year I don’t see how these past few days gave anyone reason for optimism.
Stevie is big on getting better every year and I know he’s not happy about striking out with Trouba and Stamkos so I expect a big trade before the start of the season is plan B. But until that happens I don’t see any way we finish better than last year.
not sure why you're getting down voted lol
people cant separate player Yzerman from GM Yzerman and it shows, if you wore his jersey as a kid it doesn't mean you cant be critical and people don't seem to understand that
Talbot and Kane are the only deals that I’m a fan of. Gustafsson isn’t a bad deal, it just doesn’t make sense with our current logjam of defenders. Fischer is kinda similar, solid deal, but we have no shortage of bottom 6 forwards. I keep hoping we turn to the kids, but Stevie seems to have no confidence in his prospect pool.
If that is the outcome I'd be very fine with a down year, far better than just missing the playoffs and getting another future 3rd liner with our 1st round pick.
I mean minus perron, sprong, Walman, ghost is a lot of our offensive depth from last year. Add not upgrading defensively at all and idk how people think we're better. I like the kids too but to expect rookies to just walk in and make a huge difference isn't smart.
Its possible Steve DID have big plans for today, without an interview from him we wont know yet. I suspect perhaps he thought he had a shot at a Stamkos or Marchessault or someone. That said, the positive I take away is he didnt take a swing, whiff, then try to compensate by throwing money at players who dont deserve it. I think any sane hockey fan is looking at a lot of todays signings, especially the higher dollar and term ones, and thinking “really? For him!??” The good news is the cap is going to go up substantially the next few seasons, and now Detroit is poised to be able to take big swings at the next few FA classes
I agree that almost everyone who had a big signing today probably overpaid.
The Tanev deal is brutal. 6 years and full NTC. His body won't last 3 seasons I'd say.
Even if his body lasts his skills won’t and that contract is brutal for any team let alone one that has so much invested in Tavares, Matthews, Marner, etc.
They basically need to win this year
Plus side, it’s Toronto. They won’t. They are the Canadian Rangers but with less luck and a fan base that cares more.
The moment Toronto hired TRELIVING, I said he'd be their downfall.
I disagree, it doesn't matter who their GM is when Shanahan is in charge. It clearly isn't gonna work. Their downfall never stopped years ago when they kept him around despite repeated playoff failures. He somehow avoids all blame for it lol.
Dude traded Monahan to Montreal who got them two first rounders
Yeah. That was a puzzling one. It makes me wonder if there will be panicked GMs closer to the cap going down to get rid of decent players.
The idea I've seen being passed around is just to LTIR him on Robadias Island when his body inevitably fails. Is that a solid plan? Who knows, but i can at least follow the logic. They have to get better now while they at least have a window to win, so they're not too worried about what it looks like in 6 years if he's LTIR in 3. Plus, they needed the term to bring down the AAV. If it works out like that, it's some tidy work. If it backfires in any way, you're going to be right on the money.
Agree. We didn't jeopardize the future, which is the most important part. I think we are underestimating the value the rookies will bring in next year, plus having Edvinsson over 82. But I don't think we were in on Stamkos at all, whatever the media says. I think there is zero chance he would've stayed in the division AND signed with Yzerman after they played hardball in Tampa
Ed for 82 + Kane for 82.
Let’s be real, Kane is playing 70 maximum Edit: lol, guy would have missed a dozen games in the half season he played were it not for the ASB and I’m getting downvoted? Y’all clowns
What makes you say that? ~~He didn't miss a game last year after he joined~~ and seemed to improve with every game. What makes you think he can't play a full season? Edit: He did miss 1-2 games, but it was unrelated to his hip resurfacing. I think he's got tons left in the tank. He wants that bonus money
The biggest thing for Kane is that he's finally able to train like a pro athlete this summer. I'd assume he hasn't been able to go all out for at least three offseasons before last year. That should up his durability and give him a bit more go and power on ice. If everything went right we should expect an even better Kane this fall.
Fairly certain that's not true and he did get injured for a short string.
8 games, and the All-Star break was in the middle of his injury recovery.
He did miss a couple of games last year. I want to say it was a lower body injury but I can’t really remember
Oh you might be right. Maybe 1-2, but I think it was unrelated to his hip resurfacing, which is awesome.
He got injured on Jan 14th and missed 8 games after that, not playing again until Feb 10th. He got lucky that the All-Star break fell in the middle there or he probably would have missed more.
It's actually the opposite, and I know you corrected yourself, but, put on a graph, Kane's production last season looks like a pair of boobs, starts mid, gets better, starts to dive, gets injured, comes back mid, gets better, starts to dive.... And then the last 10 games it looks more like a balloon losing air, just wiggly lines up and down
I agree. Thank God, too. 8mil per yr?? Nice pass there.
The way I’ve been looking at the moves today is that even if we did land the big fish in Stamkos, that move wasn’t going to make us a cup contender. We’re still building just to even make the playoffs, we’re not at a point yet where signing a 34 year old Stamkos puts us into a big cup window or anything. I’d have loved to bring in a name like Stamkos for a couple seasons to push us into the playoffs, but in the end I want to see a cup. I’m fine not taking a big swing this year and letting the core develop another year, and we’ll see what we’re working with next time around.
This is the best take I've heard yet. I get that patience is growing thin in Hockeytown, but Steve Yzerman hasn't minced words when it comes to building into a sustainable Cup contender -- and that takes time. Our best prospects are 18-22 yrs old right now, and Larkin/Cat are young enough still to be productive when the kids are blossoming. Keeping the cap in check after 2 straight spending sprees in '22 & '23 is the right move, and I'm 90% convinced that there's a trade coming. After the FA period died down last year, Yzerman went & grabbed DeBrincat, so who's to say that Laine or someone else isn't heading to Detroit? #🤞
I am very glad Stevie didn't make a splash today. This team isn't in that stage of its competitive arc yet. And there were a lot of overpays going around. With mostly status quo signings, I choose to read the tea leaves that he's expecting some movement from our prospects come training camp. And left just enough gaps in the potential lineup to accommodate some guys taking that next step. I'm definitely not as hype as I've been the past couple of free agency days, but I hope to be come September.
I know the complaints are the vocal majority, as most who have a better understanding of what Yzerman is doing aren't going to defend him every complaint post. But it's certainly refreshing seeing posts of people who actually listen to what Yzerman says. He said it in 2019 and probably every year since. Things are going to take time, and he wants to build through the draft. The team has improved every year since he took over GM. We would all love to see playoffs, and based on the annual improvement, this should ideally be the year. Plus, there's so much time left this off-season for things to take place.
I wouldn't say that Yzerman went out and got Debrincat. It was more like Debrincat forced his way on to Detroit. In fact, at times it felt like Yzerman was hesitant on pulling the trigger on the deal. Maybe Laine has some family in the UP but otherwise I don't see him strong arming himself over.
He didn't like Ottawa, that's for sure. But there were other, better teams (Dallas was also part of it) that he could have gone to. Detroit was absolutely #1 on the list, but it wasn't a foregone conclusion & Ottawa was trying to get a haul for him since they gave up a 7th overall pick to acquire him from Chicago. Give Yzerman *some credit* for getting it done... Laine was just an example of what caliber players are on the trade market right now. I don't think he'll be a Red Wing next year, it was just the 1st one I thought of (Zegras, Necas, etc). I'd honestly be shocked -- in a good way -- if Stevie moved for Laine!
I would’ve killed for marchessault at that price point and term. Overall I’m moderately happy with the day though
I think marschassault was a very good signing. I think the last year is going to be dicey, but this year and next year are going to be good.
For sure. Seems like a bargain. I think he’s oddly underrated
Both him and Stamkos took good deals to have a shot at the cup, Predators is a really good team and legit contenders unlike we are.
Honestly I can't remember the last time I was excited about FA as a Wings fan, maybe way back in the day when it was rumored we had a shot at Parise and Suter before they signed with the Wild. It just feels like now we don't ever make any big deals or land a big name that is going to make an instant impact. Got way too spoiled during the late 90s early 2000s, lol.
Sweet. Year 8 of the rebuild coming up
I’d be interested in hearing from max as to which of these high term/dollar deals he wishes we signed.
Right, also what makes him think all of a sudden that Wings would be a destination for people who are cup chasing.
That’s my issue with his article. He massively undersold the large deals being signed. Normally he tries to write in a way that offers both sides of the story but I don’t think he bothered to consider the downside of participating in a bidding frenzy for guys.
Exactly! Which massive overpayment should Yzerman have done?
Outside of the Kane deal, the Gustafsson one is the best so far.
Talbot is my personal favorite. Unlike the last two years, there aren’t any where I think “Oh wow, that’s a bad signing”
We added value without term. Gustafsson for less money and less years than Ghost? Win. Letting Perron walk regardless of price? Win. Talbot for that price and term? Win. Fischer back for 1 and cheap? Win. Not getting into that absurd Stamkos contract or some of the other things that happened? Win.
Abso-fuckin-lutely. The people complaining about *not* throwing all of our cap money & long-term deals at 34/35-yr-old FA's (albeit talented old men) are likely the same people who were throwing a fit over the bad FA signings the past 2 yrs, & the lack of a "youth movement". This was a much better FA signing day than it may seem on a surface level... and it's amazing how many folks seem to think that this is exactly what the roster will be in October.
Agree, I love the lack of deals with term attached, my only potential misgiving is that I still think there is a chance that there is minimal room for prospects to make the team. If Johansson, Berggren, and then one other forward(Kasper, Danielson, Mazur, even Soderblom, etc.) get significant games this year, and not like the crap they did with Edvinsson last season, then I'll be quite happy. I don't even care if they regress, can't rebuild from ground zero with veterans so work some youth in and trust that they didn't bomb with their drafting. Still looks very much like a wildcard at best roster, but last season was pretty exciting compared to the previous few before that, lack of youth the only real disappointment last year.
Agreed. All while (in theory) keeping spots open for some prospects to come up. I expect to slightly regress this year, points-wise, but it'll be an overall positive with the development of some of the young players.
If young guys can make an impact like they are supposed to we will be fine
Honestly man, like I hate to do this again after the trade deadline but we need some internal growth, we have Berg, Kasper, Danielson and Mazur who need to prove their worth and so many guys like Copp to play to their pay grade
We have a logjam of defense prospects, yet Steve keeps signing 3rd pairing dmen to fill those roster spots. It doesn’t make any sense
Who did he really sign? He got Gust to replace Ghost to run one of our power plays ASP is projected to be that and better but he won’t be here for another season or two
Chiarot - Seider Maatta - Petry Gustafsson - Holl Lagesson Thats not what i think will happen, but I hate that it's even possible to build a 7 man d group without Edvinsson or Johansson in it.
Lagesson is for the AHL Simon is absolutely in the top 4 Al Johansson has to be up in the nhl - he is no longer waiver exempt
Rotate hol and johansson
Johansson is LHD though is he not, and Holl a righty?
Don't we kinda need it to be possible, though? What if they get injured?
agreed
I do like this take. Not outlandish that Yzerman expects the guys he drafted to contribute.
Contribute by not having a spot to showcase what they potentially could do? I personally don't think there is a whole lot in the defensive prospects behind Edvinsson that are in N.A. but I'd like to see them get some opportunity, hopefully they will but I certainly won't be surprised in the least if they do not.
We won by not signing any of the ridiculous deals that were handed out. As for short term outlook we look to be about equal to where we were last year. In net we're more consistent but we'll need the good version of Chiarot and Petry to show up more times than the bad versions of them. We all know Yzerman is more focused on the long term though. If there's a big improvement it'll come from Seider and Raymond being better and Edvinsson being good in his first full year. Yzerman is waiting for those guys to really come into their own to go hard for playoffs. All of his big additions (Kane, DeBrincat) are calculated and take advantage of situations where he can get them for cheap. That's why he's going after Trouba when everyone in NY wants him out.
There are very few deals I look at from today and go "man I wish we did that." We don't have to throw money at free agency every year to improve. We have prospects getting to the point where it would be reasonable to expect them to play significant time this year in the types of roles that we'd be signing these free agents for.
I think Yzerman tried for Stammer but the offer from Nashville was too high We probably offered something like 5M x 2 years.
Silver lining.... he's out of the division AND the east.
He probably didn’t want to stay in the division against Tampa
I don't think he would have cared about that.
Looking at the Kane deal, we may have offered 6-7M a season to Stamkos, but like you said it would only have been for a couple of years. There was no competing with the overpayment by the Preds.
Yea. We were in the mix, but once Barry entered the room with a truck load of cash, we strike out
The Predators signed a guy who scored 40 goals and 80 points last season at $8M for the next four years. Stamkos signed for $125k per year more than Debrincat for the same term. How is that an overpay?
When Cat's deal expires he will not yet be 30. Stamkos will be 39 when his deal expires. Age and the contract term are big factors in the assessment that the deal was an overpay, which it clearly was.
Debrincat is 26, and Stamkos is 34. Stammer is good, but he ain't scoring 40 goals a year into his late 30s. Especially when he's not playing with Kucherov and Point
I’d be interested in a press conference to see if Yzerman was trying to sign Stamkos or not
Naw, today was good. I'm excited about adding Talbot and Gustafson. I'm even more excited about re-signing Kane and Fischer and not re-signing Ghost. Although I'll miss Perron, I believe he isn't worth his new contract. For the first time in a while, I don’t believe we took on a single bad contract on July 1st. Plus, we already had a lot of pieces to the puzzle so today we were just adding to it. I think we are moving in the right direction. It's exhausting how some people always have to be so negative.
Totally agree. I think we can be optimistic about Johansson, Mazur and Kasper. Not many teams carry three rookies at once but I think they'll all get looks. Really important that the kids get opportunity and I think today set us up for that for this year and years to come
PREASH. I was going to correct the spelling but, it’s effective this way too.
I don't get the negativity. We brought back the two most important of our four UFA forwards in Kane and Fischer. Perron was overpaid for a forward of his age, and he is already so slow that he's barely effective at even strength. Sprong puts up good offensive numbers, but his lack of defense is not ideal. We'll be better off without those two. On D, Ghost has the offensive edge over Gustafsson, but Gustafsson is better at actual defense. The only real downside there was Walman, but he's being replaced by Ed. The top six should be at least as good overall as last season, and maybe play some better D as a group. In goal, we don't have a clear #1 but we have a group of goalies from which we should get acceptable results. The situation is improved over what it was. All this and we will have quite a bit of cap space left over even after we sign Mo and Raymond.
The feeling is that the team is mostly the same as last year. And the team last year didn’t make the playoffs. Most of the new faces don’t feel like upgrades over the guys they are replacing.
The team is already better without Perron and Reimer. Ghost was great on our pp but gave the puck away a ton as well. Plus we have a full year of Kane, so our offense is going to go up from that as well.
Kane is absolutely more important, but Perron was still a 50+ point guy and crafty on the power play, let’s not act like losing him helps. As of right now we’ll probably miss him in the top 6 but I hated his new contract so I get it.
Perron costed us points in the standings just as much as he helped gain them. He won’t be missed. I like not seeing us be short handed with 3 minutes remaining every game
While I love that they brought Kane back. I’m reserved that him alone is enough to give this offense the boost it needs to turn the corner
Brother our offense was not the problem last year. We were one of the highest scoring teams in the league. We needed to improve defense and goaltending, which we did both without losing much, if any, offense.
That’s fair. Maybe the selfish side of me wants to see them have a truly game changer on the offensive side. Maybe Raymond can continue to grow into that
Yeah I didn’t even mention Raymond absolutely popping the fuck off. If he continues playing the way he did, we might have our game breaking forward
Who are the odd men out on D?
Holl and Lagesson
What makes you think the top 6 will be as good next season? We lost Perron and added nobody. I hope I’m wrong but I’m not expecting Kane to be a ppg player again, at least not for a full season. Our entire offense was punching above their weight all year so regression is expected. Even if we are as good as we were last year we finished with 91pts. It’s unlikely that that will get us into the playoffs next year. I’m happy we didn’t make a bad signing and there should be room for some of the kids to play but I don’t see how the moves we’ve made so far could improve our outlook
I guess in theory our offense doesn’t need to punch (as much) above their weight if the defense and goaltending hold up their end
Perron is addition by subtraction. Our offense was underperforming because our defense was atrocious. You can't score goals in your own zone. As long as Raymond continues from where he left off, we will be alright. We upgraded on D with a full season of Ed. We replaced ghost with a better defensive defenseman and got marginally better in net. If we improved just a little and can avoid the epic collapses of seasons past, we will be alright. I'm not extremely impressed either but I don't think it was awful. I would've like to see Petry and Holl dealt though. I suppose it could still happen.
I get that ppl dont like Perron because of awful penalties and he is slow. But acting like 50point 2nd liner who was pretty much only player who could dig pucks out of the corner in this team is addition by subtraction seems wild to me lol
Dude was responsible for more goals against than anyone I've ever seen. He's one of the worst +/- players on the team which is tough to do when you're also on the power play unit. He's an absolute traffic cone and turnover machine. If you only look at his good plays then sure, I see where you're coming from. The totality of his work is abysmal.
I think it was time to move on, but you are 100% right that he did things no one else on the team could, particularly along the boards. There will be facets of his game that this team will miss next year for sure.
I actually think we had a really good day (inclusive of the Kane deal).
I agree! And we have plenty of room for Mo and Lucas + some flexibility for later in the summer / in season. And if we regressed, we signed a lot of very movable-at-the-deadline contracts today
It’s pretty clear at this point that yzerman’s *mainly* interested in short term deals while letting several prospects graduate. We win by not signing Stamkos, Marchessault, etc.
We didn't sacrifice our future and kept it flexible on 1 and 2yr deals. I think that in it's self is a win. Hopefully, our rookies star pushing for their spots and get playing time this year.
We didn’t sign more bloated contracts to the Holls Copps and Chiarots of the world. That’s a win to me. Playoffs or not.
I agree, though it in no way excuses signing those shit deals in the past.
No bad signings is a win and Kane probably has the most favorable deal out of almost any contract from the last few days, still plenty of time after today to continue to fill things out.
The one thing about Detroit’s young media is they have a huge hard on for certain players and completely over value them. Walman is very popular among Red Wings twitter and Reddit but he is not good defensively. He was healthy scratched down the stretch. Ghost is a very good offensive defenseman but is a complete liability in his own end. Perron is a good leader, was strong on the puck, and good on the power play but not all that good defensively or 5on5. Sprong could score but is also a complete liability defensively. Reading the tea leaves, it’s clear why these players were not prioritized. Yzerman wants this team to improve the way they defend.
I'm not one that ever thought Walman was a legit top pair, or even 2nd pair guy and I'm not going to try and tell anyone that I think he is overly strong defensively, but it seems that people are now happy to drag the guy after he's traded for not being good enough while overlooking how crappy all the guys on defense not named Seider and Edvinsson are. Petry and Chiarot are brutal, as is Holl. Maatta is ok as a 3rd pair guy, so is Gustafsson, he might be 2nd pair here given how bad the defensive group is as a whole(Holl). I don't see how Walman is the guy eveyone dumps on out of that group unless they are just people that will do anything to put a positive spin on every player transaction Yzerman makes. Someone had to go, and ideally it would have been at least 2 more guys, but that doesn't make Walman the worst of the group, he just didn't have the worst contract.
Yeah, I agree with that. I think all those guys that you mentioned are what they are. I guess the point is I don’t think the Wings lost anything that’s worth worrying about. I don’t think they’re worse but I do agree that they’re also not better.
That's about where I'm at. I'm happy that the Wings didn't tie up a bunch of cap dollars and roster spots July 1, but I'll only remain happy if they actually, finally shift to a youth movement this season.
Walman is not overrated. After today, there is absolutely no excuse to shoot a second round pick into the sun. Idc about getting rid of him, but it makes absolutely no sense the way we did it. Ghost had a good role in the team. If we added ANY defenseman of note that that was actually good at defense, then I wouldn’t care, but we didn’t. Perron wasn’t replaced. That’s the issue. To think he had no value is ridiculous. The real issue is we didn’t get better. You can’t make a single argument that this team is BETTER. We stayed the same at best.
I’ll never know why a 2nd had to be added to move Walman. We saw some pretty unremarkable pieces get signed for similar AAV as you noted. Two things can be true though. Walman isn’t as good as Detroit fans want to believe and we probably shouldn’t have had to attach an asset to move him. Also don’t disagree that the Wings are better but they are not worse.
Walman became wildly overrated by this sub the moment the trade happened. lol
I believe you and also am disappointed. We seem to be getting a team that could grow together and when you're switching off players all the time I don't know how you get that gel. Yzerman knows better but it felt like the right direction. Players get better.
Seider: Underrated because despite the numbers, he's playing the hardest minutes in the league His linemate most of the year, who was playing a lot of those same minutes: overrated, not good defensively. Wut.
Liked today more than I thought I would. We're a deal for a RHD away from set imho. Necas would be primo icing on top of that. Always have to ask on FA day, what deal do I wish we would've signed? Stamkos overpay amongst many others. Less is more, lots of trade targets left
I’m happy we didn’t give out any of the Nashville contracts. Marchessault AAV is good but too much term for my taste. The Skjei deal is absolutely awful on both AAV and term though, I’ve never been impressed by his play.
>The Skjei deal is absolutely awful on both AAV and term though, I’ve never been impressed by his play. Yeah Nashville bite hard on that career year he had. He is pretty much ideal 2nd pair LHD tbf but that deal is looking brutal >I’m happy we didn’t give out any of the Nashville contracts. Marchessault AAV is good but too much term for my taste. Kinda same. After Chiarot/Copp/Compher contracts we really cant just hand out term so kinda happy how this Day went
I Think we stayed dead even at worst..... but we lost Ghost to open up space fro Edvinsson and Johansson and Gustafsson is here to pick up slack if they stumble. Talbot is an upgrade,We brought Fisher and Kane back we still need to ink Mo and Lucas. There's also that trade rumor going around regarding Trouba. Yzerman doesn't take many risks and this team slumped twice last season and still just missed. We're fine. The Wings aren't at the "Big splash on 7/1" stage yet.
I love Yzerman as much as the next guy, but the criticism is warranted. Although I’m more upset about the bad contracts in prior years than the inactivity yesterday.
Kind of a weird one from Max. Sure we lose Ghost and Perron's offense, but they were both defensive liabilities who didn't skate great. A lot of this still hinges on what this Trouba trade ends up being, if it isn't dead. If we get Kakko in the deal, that could pay huge dividends in the end for us.
It’s not weird at all. He points out that we didn’t get better through FA which is very fair to state. He also argues that the wings are clearly looking to improve from within which seems to be Yzermans vision.
It should be the vision of any GM who is in charge of a team that has had picks in the top 10 for 7 consecutive years.
From what the media is saying it sounds dead. NY needed the cap space to do stuff in FA but all the big names are gone now. Sure they will need space to sign Shesterkin next year but by then Trouba’s wife will be done her residency so he will be open to a trade.
Nothing weird about it. Yzerman himself talked about our need to be better defensively and be harder to play against. And, he hasn't addressed any of that -- instead we lost 50+ goals on offense. Gustafsson is slightly better on defense than Gostisbehere, but he's not exactly difficult to play against. I really hope Mazur makes the team on the checking line. Also hope there's room for either Kasper or Danielson. That would make our lack of moves make more sense. Still, 4 goalies and too many mediocre defensemen is terrible roster management.
It was literally the first day of the offseason. Still a ton of time to flesh out the roaster and no bad signings that we would all complain about in a year (Copp, Holl, etc.). I’ll take that all day.
I get the sentiment. While the signings today were financially good, the actual roster construction is confusing to say the least The wings have 4 back up goalies and 9 defensemen on the roster currently. There’s only 1 buy out slot available for this season (Abdelkader & Yamamoto have the other 2). Very curious to see what trades may come in the future
FWIW, there is only a limit on the number of contracts you can retain salary on, not the number of buyouts you can have at once. Any buyout this offseason could only come if we have an arbitration case and only for players above a certain salary (Holl, for example, is too "cheap" for this second buyout window).
Yzerman was the most overt and direct I’ve ever seen when several times at the end of the season he mentioned team defense. Our lacking was good defense and two way forwards that create offense from defensive smarts. You aren’t going to win our division running and gunning if you don’t have a 34, 86 or the other 2 88’s as your forwards. Let’s see the defensive first team he is putting together for this season.
the kids NEED to play, Yzerman was hired to build a team though the draft not sign veterans to bad contracts like Holland did
Yzerman has done his fair share of that as well.
Haven't read Bultman's assessment yet, but count me among the unimpressed. Not being sure if we got any better or worse should be very concerning for a team that just missed the playoffs (and that was only in contention due to a couple hot streaks). The word for that is stagnant. I'm not sure if there was a realistic path to taking a big step forward through free agency this season, and I'm glad the contacts Yzerman did give out were reasonable, but I'm not inspired looking at the current roster. This looks like a team poised to be picking at 15 again next year, and that's not a very promising place to be.
Season hasn't even started, there is a lot to say about players individually, but more important is how they play as a team. We just don't know how good or bad Detroit will be yet, the chemistry can be great and what would be on paper a shit team can be really solid. It's just speculation at this point.
Some times doing nothing is the biggest win.
Off the top of my head the only deals I feel we missed out on, without considering where or what the players wanted was.. Teravainen and walker. Others like stammer would be nice but come at a big price. Seems like we need one more top 6 forward so interested to see what happens
Some of the deals today make Copps look team friendly. I’m looking at you Stephenson. I’m sad we didn’t do more, but prices were insane. Lindholm and his almost 8 a year for 7 years will not age well. At the deadline I was upset we didn’t do more to make the playoffs. I’ve been adamant we needed to make the playoffs of July 1st would be quiet. Well here we are. Let’s see what the rookies can do. We have several open spots including 2nd line winger . Let’s go!
Agreed. Some crazy term being thrown about especially Toronto and Nashville. Be interesting to see if decent players are being bandied about with draft pucks (ie - Yzerman).
Defense is similar to last years, maybe even an upgrade with Edvinsson for a full year and Gustafsson as a better defender (slightly) that Gostisbehere. Right side is still a concern but IMO it was a concern last year as well. Goaltending got better with Talbot as a tandem with Lyon. Kane for a full year rather than 50 games is an upgrade. Only concern I have is losing Perron and Sprong’s goal scoring. If we don’t sign any of the remaining free agent wingers, then the rookies will have to step up big time. But, you add in hopefully a healthy Larkin and year 4 Raymond, maybe a less snake bitten Cat. Is the team better than last year’s? Maybe, maybe not. But I don’t mind Yzerman being conservative after seeing the contracts handed out today.
I still think that Berggren can step up in that Sprong role, as depth scorer. He might not have same amount of goals but i think he can drive a play bit more. As of Perron i have no idea how to replace his role in top 6. We are pretty small at FWD and we dont have that many players who can go in to the corners and dig the puck back. Berggren is too small to play in *our* top 6 and i doubt that Kasper, Mazur or ND are ready to step in as top 6 player.
I doubt Kasper is ever a top 6 player
Ngl me too, but he might be best option for now lol
We definitely regressed, but I think that’s fine. We had 0 rookies on the team last year minus the last month of Edvinsson. This is a rebuilding team, that wasn’t particularly in line with that. What I don’t get is trading Walman for cap space we aren’t using. We haven’t replaced him and that’s going to hurt.
It seems to me like Walman caused problems and Steve got rid of them.
So far this looks like the year we give the kids a "real" chance to make the team. It could all change tomorrow but as of this moment guys like Edvinsson, Johansson, Mazur, Kasper, Berggren, and Danielson can see the door open to earn a spot. Not all will but some of them will be on the big team come opening day. Edvinsson has a spot locked up and probably Johansson too unless he totally shits the sheets in the preseason. I still think a Trouba trade could happen. Getting him and losing Holl would be a good thing.
The issue isn't the goalie, it's the defense in front of him. His stats look better than what we have, but he also played behind a much better defense last season. We have to hope that ours is much improved this year.
How come we can’t get rid of Petry?
Because he sucks and he also has a NMC
I think the best thing that happened yesterday is we didn’t sign any long term deals with 30+ year olds. The most important thing is maintaining flexibility for the cup window with this core in a few years. Improving the team for next year and making a playoff push is secondary.
I think he pretty well nails it, personally. I'm not really disappointed either. Does the team look a bit worse than last year? Yeah, 100% except in net. But to me this looks like one of a few possibilities: * Yzerman convinced ownership to be a little more conservative in free agency because we need to open up space for the young 'uns to come in if the team is going to have a chance to be a serious contender. * The decision makers saw the stupid money flying with the first cap increase and knew that they would hamstring themselves if they jumped in, accepting a quiet year so they can actually do something down the road - especially with a couple of our own cap hits coming off the roster after this season. * Spending huge in FA was never the answer, and they have a trade or two up their sleeves to improve the roster, with the team leadership correctly guessing that a few teams were going to overspend and end up in cap hell. Any of those options are pretty good to me. I'd love to see the team make the playoffs this year, but if the choices were "overpay a couple people, barely squeak into the playoffs, not make room for the kids, and screw your cap space" or "still be competitive but take a slight step back for one season to better set up for long term success" I'll take the second choice anytime.
People don’t realize starting the season with Edvinsson and Kane are practically signings themselves…if Albert Jo can chip in as well then that’s great, an assumed upgrade in net as well…looking good right now without really having done too much
While I don’t wish we got any of the big contract guys. Our team really didn’t get better and we spent assets to dump money.
They signed/re-signed one of the best free agents available to a very good contract. Anyone who thought they would sign anything more than depth/role players hasn't been paying attention since Yzerman took over as gm. It's all stop gaps while the prospects develop. I would expect next year to be the same if not even less active since there will be a lot of young talent pushing there way into the NHL.
I think Steve thought he had a legit chance at getting stamkos , which would’ve made this a solid day. I really like the Gustafson signing and that he didn’t overpay for any other forwards. I believe there is still a trade to make for trouba but that trade won’t help us much unless kakko is involved. Ultimately it’s up to the guys on the roster and any prospects that show they are ready. Really would’ve loved to see Matt Roy signed though.
I liked Roy but think we dodged a bullet at that price Our D prospects are SUPPOSED to be pretty stacked
5.75 is a great number for a top 4 RHD. Brady skjei got 7M… Stacked seems really generous. ASP looks good wallinder looks promising and Ed will be in Detroit from the start next year but anyone telling you they are stacked is just drinking kool aid
More worried about the term. Also, Countless sites rank our prospects among the best. I think we will be OK.
Ed and ASP the only two that look to be more than 3rd pair guys. Agree that stacked is a very generous term, they're stacked in numbers, short on high end talent outside of ASP.
Bingo
This free agency has been super meh, but that’s okay when there’s a ton of overpays and excessively long contracts. I just hope we didn’t dump Walman’s cap space and that 2nd rounder for nothing.
Sounds like a perfect article for a journalist to write after today. If they do well this season you can say you liked some of the signings and point at this article. If they do poorly this year you can say you didn’t like some of the signings and point at this article. Max is playing it safe.
I'm still not sure how the Walman piece fits into what's happened over the last 24 hours but I think it must be a "more to the story" that we may just never know.
Agree with a lot of the comments saying we won by staying out of the bidding wars - you have to be realistic that we are not in a competitive window and are still in the transition stage to the next wave of young prospects. We need to be making moves with players like Berggren, Edvinsson, Mazur, Danielson, Kasper in mind, not signing more players to block their progression.
I’m not bullish at all. I don’t at all like what Yzerman did yesterday. What’s the point in having 4 goalies? Could this stifle Cossa’s development if one of these guys ends up in the minors? What’s with all of the LDs? How are the old, mediocre vets going to impact the young guys? What was the point in dumping Walman for free only to do…nothing with the extra cap space?
Throw in Trouba at 2RD and our D will be much better than last year. Forward group is not a step forward, but it got much younger. Hopefully young guys will step up to close the gap. G became better and now league average. Overall I’m just happy we haven’t made any stupid signings, like Stamkos or Tanev
Has there been any new info on that front? Last word was a deal was close but Trouba would have to sign off
Nothing else
I don’t expect to be much better next season but it looks like there may be youth movement going on and I’m all for that.
I’m still expecting news on the trade front, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of roster changes. That said, I won’t be surprised if we take a step back this year. As this sub hates to hear, we weren’t supposed to be in the position we were this year, it was ahead of schedule. Course correction impending. That being said, if some prospects pop off I think we could be on the cusp again. Just gotta stay healthy and fix whatever mentality leads to eating shit with Larks out.
I feel like Max is pretty fair here. I personally don't mind going from Gostisbehere to Gustafsson (who I think with an increased role on the PP not being behind Fox could see a slight uptick in points), but this team was out over their skis last year looking at their possession metrics and team shooting percentage and there's not really anything we could do this offseason to bridge that gap with how many roster spots are spoken for already. We're certainly a softer team today than we were yesterday losing Perron. We haven't meaningfully improved an offense that struggled to generate quantity and quality chances. We haven't meaningfully improved a defense that struggled to prevent quantity and quality chances. This isn't a bad thing though in the long run if it does mean getting the younger players (especially on forward) some reps.
I think he's being fair too, especially considering his take was only considering 2024-25. But I think one of the biggest successes of today was how it sets us up for the future. Not a huge regression from a team that missed the playoffs on a technicality, and nothing huge committed for the future. And tbh, I don't think anyone behind us in the division passed us today, and Tampa arguably got worse. So we'll see. Last year we were excited to be on the bubble, this year I think we can expect nothing less. Improvement!
We need a 2nd pairing RD. And the lack of signings today make me question why Walman was traded or what the big miss was, because given the current state there was no need to ship a 2nd round pick out.
I can't wait to be fucked in the lottery again next year
if we are in the lottery conversation something has gone horribly wrong
I think it's possible the Wings regress - they had a high shooting percentage and weren't great 5-on-5. They lost some offense, so it's fair to be concerned. That said, It's the first day of free agency and who knows what's going to happen between now and the start of the season. They could also see improvements from within both offensively and defensively. I will say, I don't get his criticism of the Ghost-Gustafsson swap - suggesting the Wings should have just kept Ghost instead. Maybe it came down to Yzerman being unwilling to give term? Unless Max knows something the rest of us don't, I'm not sure Ghost would have signed that deal to stay in Detroit. Not to mention, by the time he signed it, he might've realized he wasn't going to get the AAV and term he was looking for heading into today.
I think Bultman is correct. The Red Wings are not as good today as they were at the end of last season. Aside from a 37 year old goalie who may be better than what we had, the loss of Ghost-Bear, Walman and Perron and the addition of replacement-level players is about as exciting as watching a wet dish rag mildew. I am becoming disenchanted with Yzerman and his rebuild which is now dragging on to a 5th year. I don't see playoffs with the team as configured. Sorry, I just don't.
I think this article might be one of Max's worst. Love the dude, but this take is literal hot garbage. For the better part of Yzerman's tenure as a GM he has continually preached patience. He's said he wants to ice a reasonably competitive team and let the prospects develop. And all we've done is bitch and moan about the overpays in free agency - some of which are egregiously bad like Holl. Yzerman sits a free agency out - where Stamkos got 8m and we got Kane to less money and less term who's essentially just as good. Gostisbehere got a fair contract, but we got a defenseman who's just as good for less money and less term. We kept a solid 4th liner, and opened spots on scoring lines for Berggren. Mazur, Kasper, Danielson and to a lesser extent Soderblom will all get chances to make the team. On defense, we cleared out some cap space, and Johansson, Edvinsson and maybe even Wallinder will have a chance in camp to impress. The goalie situation literally got significantly more consistent. And, the growth of Lucas Raymond should continue to carry this team. How anyone is looking at this offseason as stagnant is beyond me - the future is finally here and everyone is mad we didn't go overpay Tanev until he's 50?
So no part two of the Walman deal? And no, I won't let it go lol.
It may have been Trouba, and his refusal to accept a trade may be holding it up. There's still plenty of time for that to play out.
Yeah, I wouldn't say I'm excited about the team as of today. Resigning Kane is great. More of the same at goaltending. No improvement at RHD or defense at all. No improvement at forward. Time will tell, but Max seems spot on.
lol I love how no one can have a differing opinion without getting downvoted. Y’all need to chill.
Looks like they have to work the trade route now. Trouba or maybe Marner? Both have a love/hate relationship with their fans and maybe need a change of scenery??
The first day of free agency is an artificial construct. It’s just the *start* of team moves. Sure, we missed out on a couple of big names but we have all summer to marginally improve positions or trade for guys. If we do nothing else all summer I won’t feel great about our moves, as I don’t think we *improved* but we didn’t get worse. But clearly we have to improve to compete in the hellscape of the Atlantic Division. But there’s plenty of time left and it’s not like Yzerman doesn’t know we need to improve our defense.
I mean we had to upgrade the D and the goalies. Markström, Ullmark, Gibson were clear upgrades. No dice. As for the D, we could fit in Roy with the contract he got. Nope. This is underwhelming.
I mostly like what the Wings did. I assume Yzerman took a run at Stamkos, but honestly 4x8M is a lot, for me. I like the Gustafsson, partly because i really was not a fan of Gostisbehere. I liked Fischer last year, do bringing him back was nice. And the Kane deal is, I think, great. A full season of a healthy Kane is probably ar least 80 points, and if they happen to make the playoffs this year, maybe he re-signs again. But what I like most is that he didn't sign anyone to a deal longer than two years, and with only 10 F accounted for, maybe a couple of promotions are in the cards or maybe they sign a Tarasenko or one of the remaining FA forwards to a one-year deal. Also, with so many G and D, I sort of assume there is something else happening.
I read the article and while I get where he’s coming from I think I still disagree. I didn’t want Perron back at all. Ottawa can have him on a continued decline for that ridiculous term. Only guy who signed with an AAV I thought we could’ve matched/exceeded that I’m really bummed about was Marchessault. Now, if Steve went into yesterday with the intention of making bigger signings and they just struck out…then idk, maybe you shouldn’t have spent the last two offseasons making the exact kind of deals other teams got panned for yesterday 🤷🏼♂️ But thankfully, this probably forces them to play youngsters. I’d rather regress playing them than have them be blocked by more veteran stopgaps. Also I am a Nate Danielson truther. Put him in the middle on a Kane-DeBrincat line and that could make everyone forget about Perron in the top six.
Another development year, Talbot and consistency won’t be the swing we need. Kane sticking around is great but he’s not the game changer he once was. Losing Perron stings the locker room, not many like him in the locker room. Defense is still sub par. We should still be a high powered offense but lacking enough elsewhere that playoffs feel like a stretch. My uneducated opinion!
This sub will never criticize Yzerman so use the general opinion very loosely, this was a bad day for the franchise.
Then why have I heard so much complaining all day? Criticize if you want but people are allowed to disagree with you.
Sometimes I wonder if this sub knows a thing about hockey.
Gustafsson is definitely a bit of a downgrade from Gostisbehere, but idk if Ghost is taking that deal in Detroit, and even if he does I'm not sure he would produce the same way he did last season. Losing Perron's production will definitely hurt, but that contract he got from Ottawa would absolutely suck. His skating just isn't good enough to be effective at 5 on 5 and I don't think he has a spot on the top power play unit anymore. I still think we need one more RHD and ideally another top 6 forwards if we want a real shot at making the playoffs this year. All the teams that were in front of us seem to be even better this year, so it's definitely gonna be a tough season, but I think with the improvement in net, and growth from younger players (plus hopefully Larkin can stay healthy), we should be competitive.
We still need a quality RW, I wonder if Necas is still on the board. If there isn't a trade to bring in a RD and RW I'll be pretty upset.
I think Edvinnson and Gustaffson are upgrades over Wally and Ghost. Cant fucking keep Simon down there forever lol
I think Ed and Wally are upgrade on Ed and Gustafsson tbh
It was very likely this team on paper would be destined to take a slight step back next year without doing something drastic. I like the short term deals and I hope this leads to the kids getting more playing time.
it has to, only 3 Yzerman picks have played an NHL game, that number needs to change
Yeah but we didn't add anything. Lose a trash D get a trash D lose a trash goalie get two more trash goalies Resign Kane This team last year missed the playoffs. We need to get real players not bargain basement dudes
Nothing he said was false. Our team doesn’t look any better on paper than it did before FA.
We? We got better at goaltending, and worse everywhere else. For a team that only reached 91pts last year I don’t see how these past few days gave anyone reason for optimism. Stevie is big on getting better every year and I know he’s not happy about striking out with Trouba and Stamkos so I expect a big trade before the start of the season is plan B. But until that happens I don’t see any way we finish better than last year.
not sure why you're getting down voted lol people cant separate player Yzerman from GM Yzerman and it shows, if you wore his jersey as a kid it doesn't mean you cant be critical and people don't seem to understand that
Talbot and Kane are the only deals that I’m a fan of. Gustafsson isn’t a bad deal, it just doesn’t make sense with our current logjam of defenders. Fischer is kinda similar, solid deal, but we have no shortage of bottom 6 forwards. I keep hoping we turn to the kids, but Stevie seems to have no confidence in his prospect pool.
I have little faith in that prospect pool either, but I wasn't the one picking them.
Downvote me if you want, but this squad is picking in the top 5 of the 2025 draft.
A shot at James Hagens? Sign me up
If that is the outcome I'd be very fine with a down year, far better than just missing the playoffs and getting another future 3rd liner with our 1st round pick.
People are going to downvote you but I completely agree. I don’t think today went well for Yzerman at all.
I mean minus perron, sprong, Walman, ghost is a lot of our offensive depth from last year. Add not upgrading defensively at all and idk how people think we're better. I like the kids too but to expect rookies to just walk in and make a huge difference isn't smart.
I always find Max moody.