On April 19th, 2019, a new dawn emerged in Hockeytown, as the Detroit Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman took over as General Manager (GM) of the Detroit Red Wings. For years prior, the Red Wings had been in a bit of a drought, having a losing record and missing the playoffs in 2017, losing their 27-year streak of making it to the NHL playoffs. 2018 and 2019 were no better, as the Red Wings managed to miss the playoffs again. In hopes of a turnaround, the Red Wings hired Steve Yzerman to be the new GM. Yzerman had just built a dynasty in Tampa Bay, including back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup finals, which gave Red Wings fans a sigh of relief and even excitement. While a new common saying amongst Red Wings fans since he took over is, “Trust the Yzerplan,” the Red Wings have yet to make the playoffs, so the real question is, is the Yzerplan working?
What many Hockeytown fans seemed to be most excited about when Yzerman joined was how well he managed the Tampa Bay Lightning as GM. In just 2015, Steve Yzerman won the NHL General Manager of the Year award. The Lightning that year also set a franchise record with 50 wins and 109 points in the regular season. Not only that, but they also led the league with 262 goals and 32 home wins. This was all with the team that Yzerman built. During his time in Tampa, Yzerman made incredible first-round picks, including star forward Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. He also made huge signings, which included star defenseman Victor Hedman and star forward Steven Stamkos. Yes, it is clear that Yzerman has built a lasting reputation and super team in Tampa Bay during his nine years, but it seems like so far in Detroit, he hasn’t been able to do this. So what has Yzerman actually done well with the Red Wings?
While many Red Wings fans and other hockey fans seem to consider the Yzerplan a failure at this point, Yzerman took over a very poorly rostered and coached team to try and turn it around, which he hasn’t necessarily done so far. To start, the Red Wings were only one point behind making the final Eastern Conference Wildcard spot in the 2023-2024 season, and this came down to the final two minutes of the Capitals vs. Flyers game, which the Capitals won by one goal, which because the Capitals and Red Wings were tied in points, it meant that the Capitals had barely beat out the Red Wings for a playoff spot. Yes, the Red Wings standings haven’t been stellar since Yzerman took over, yet he has made many notable signings, including re-signing star Dylan Larkin to an 8-year deal, re-signing David Perron to a 2-year deal, signing Shayne Gostisbehere to a 1-year contract, signing Patrick Kane to a 1-year contract, signing J.T Compher to a 5-year contract, re-signing young star Lucas Raymond to an 8-year contract, re-signing Alex Lyon to a 2-year contract, and re-signing young star Moritz Sider to a 7-year contract.
While some of Yzerman’s less notable free agent signings, like Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot, Ville Husso, Justin Holl, and James have been a little questionable in how they played out, Yzerman has still been able to maintain the star power in Detroit while also hopefully bringing up a young core of prospects for the future. While lots of Yzerman’s signings have been good, he has also done a very good job with trades. Over the summer of 2023, the Red Wings made a huge trade to acquire all-star Alex Debrincat from the Senators, which proved to be huge for the Red Wings almost playoff run. Yzerman also made a risky move by shipping out Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Hronek for a pair of first-round picks. Another thing that Yzerman has done very well with the Red Wings is drafting. While Yzerman doesn’t handle most of the later round draft picks, since joining the Red Wings in 2019, the Red Wings first-round draft picks have been hits, who include Lucas Raymond, Moritz Sider, Simon Edvinsson, and Red Wings’ best prospect, Marco Kasper. Overall, Yzerman has done an outstanding job at building a deep prospect pool for the Red Wings, which is exactly what needs to be done for a rebuild to happen. What Yzerman has brought to the table so far, with signings, trades, and drafting, has had a positive impact on the franchise, considering how big of a rebuild needed to be done since he took over, yet he and the rest of the franchise still havea lot of work to do to make the Red Wings a winning team.
The big thing that seems to be what many are now considering a failure is that even if they have gotten close, the Red Wings still haven’t made the playoffs in 8 years, and they now hold the second longest streak in the NHL currently for a playoff drought. Since the 2019-2020 season and Steve Yzerman’s takeover as GM, the Red Wings have only managed to have one winning season, which was the 2023-2024 NHL season. While Yzerman has made many good signings in trades, he also seems to make a lot of questionable ones that leave fans confused. One of Yzerman’s biggest mistakes as a GM was making Justin Holl one of our highest-paid defenseman, who this season so far has just one assist and no goals. Another one of Yzerman’s biggest question marks is leaving young players in the AHL for too long. For those who don’t know, the AHL (American Hockey League) is the league below the NHL, where many NHL teams send their prospects and players before bringing them up or back up to the NHL. Last season, Yzerman left Jonaton Bergon, Simon Edvinson, and Albert Johansson in the AHL for what felt like too long, and this year he seems to be doing the same with Marco Kasper. The Red Wings drafted Kasper number 8 overall in the 2022 NHL draft and so far this season he has been stationed on the Griffins, yet questions arise with what Yzerman will plan to do with his role on the Wings. No matter how many moves, signings, or trades Yzerman makes, the big idea is that under his leadership, the Red Wings have failed to become a contending team, let alone a playoff team.
With the NHL season now in full swing, the question that seems to be pondering lots of Red Wings fans and even just NHL fans, is how much success needs to happen to consider the Yzerplan a success.
