| Detroit Free Press
Steve Yzerman: Why players are intrigued to play for Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman on a Zoom call, Oct. 12, 2020.
Early October broke a long, dull lull for the Detroit Red Wings, featuring both the NHL draft and the start of free agency.
General manager Steve Yzerman used the market to sign two forwards, two defenseman and one goaltender, changes that infuse hope the 2020-21 Wings will be more competitive than the team that won only 17 times last season.
A new season would normally be two weeks old by now, but with the pandemic still raging, uncertainty reigns. The NHL is keeping an eye on how the NFL is doing, as well as other leagues that have or hope to stage a season.
Here is a look at key topics.
When will the next season start?
During the draft, which took place two weeks ago, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Jan. 1 as the latest target date. Given how COVID-19 remains a constant threat (on Monday, the Centers for Disease Control reported 387,692 new cases in the U.S. over the past seven days), a New Year’s Day start seems optimistic, even without fans. It was one thing to hold the playoffs in bubbles; that’s not feasible for the regular season.
[ Why Bobby Ryan may be Yzerman’s best signing yet for the Wings]
How long will the season be?
Eighty-two games is unrealistic. A Jan. 1 start would push the end of a full schedule to July 5. That means the playoffs, which usually last around two months, would overlap with the 2021 Summer Olympics,scheduled for July 23-Aug. 8. NBC is the U.S. broadcasting rights-holder for both events, so that’s not happening. Instead, the NHL may have to do what it did when a labor dispute shortened the 2012-13 season to 48 games.
‘Howe’ can this be?
When the season does start, keep an eye on Patrick Marleau, who signed a one-year deal with the San Jose Sharks. He’s 44 games shy of Gordie Howe’s record 1,767 NHL games played. Marleau (1,723) enters next season in fifth place, trailing also Mark Messier (1,756), Jaromir Jagr (1,733) and Ron Francis (1,731). Howe played his last NHL game April 6, 1980. He was in uniform for the Hartford Whalers, but at least his finale came against the Wings, the team he led to four Stanley Cups.
When will training camp be?
Based on recent interviews with Yzerman, it does sound like the NHL and NHLPA will come up with a scenario in which the seven non-playoff teams (the Wings, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres) will start before the 24 teams that were part of the bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto. That still wouldn’t be until maybe early December, at which point those teams will have not have played in roughly nine months.
[ 18 thoughts on Yzerman’s first 18 months running the Red Wings ]
What’s Yzerman up to now?
He’s had a busy October, drafting a dozen players and then signing unrestricted free agents Bobby Ryan, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jon Merrill, Troy Stecher and Thomas Greiss. Yzerman still has his two biggest restricted free agents to get under contract in forwards Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi filed for arbitration, so that contract will get done one way or another (the sides can continue to negotiate even if they’re before the arbitrator). Bertuzzi’s arbitration date is Sunday. He’s coming off a two-year, $2.8 million contract and, with two straight 21-goal seasons, is likely to come in in the $4.5-5 million range.
Mantha is coming off a two-year, $6.6 million deal. He scored 16 goals last season, limited to 43 games because of injuries (that extrapolates to 30 goals over an 82-game season). He may want a one-year deal to try to increase his value, but there’s much to be said for longer-term job security. Expect him to come in around the $5 million mark.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.