Under Steve Yzerman‘s front-office leadership, the Detroit Red Wings have yet to reach the postseason. For some, this is worrisome. Fans can be impatient, even with a player who won three Stanley Cups wearing the winged-wheel and then as the general manager credited with building the Tampa Bay Lightning into a powerhouse.
Yzerman is in his fifth season as Red Wings general manager. He knows the score. After the signing of Patrick Kane, Yzerman told reporters in a media briefing he was shooting for the playoffs this season: “I have some reason to believe … we’re going to hang around if we’re healthy,” Yzerman said. “If we’re healthy and if our goaltending holds up, we can compete for a playoff spot.”
After a 25-season run of qualifying for Stanley Cup quests, the franchise’s last postseason appearance was in 2016, when it lost in the first round to the Lightning. So, a little more than a quarter into his fifth season, Yzerman’s hopes are high. He recently told John Keating, the Red Wings between-periods host on TV broadcasts, that he’s been encouraged so far because the team has been in almost every game.
So, is Yzerman giving us a sales pitch? Probably not. And more than anyone who’s laced them up for the Red Wings, Yzerman understands both what players can go through, as well as front-office folks who move personnel as if they were chess pieces. As a player, Yzerman had to change his game; it explains his deliberate approach as Detroit Red Wings General Manager.
Steve Yzerman taking a deliberate approach as Detroit Red Wings GM.
Here’s the real reason to trust Yzerman, though, even if his rebuild appears plodding, slow, and frustrating. He understands what’s needed from the perspective of a player and a GM. Perhaps his player experience provides the most insight into what he’s doing. As he shuffles personnel, he realizes firsthand that some players need time to adjust, to grow the challenges of the NHL.
As a player, he watched his Detroit Red Wings go through some of what this team is experiencing. After a couple of conference finals and losses to Edmonton powerhouses in 1988 and 1989, the Red Wings brought in Bryan Murray to help rebuild.
This was just after the 1989 draft when the Red Wings plucked Europeans Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, and Vladimir Konstantinov in late rounds. To those great Red Wings, Murray’s drafts produced such standouts as Martin Lapointe, Darren McCarty, Chris Osgood, Keith Primeau, and Vyacheslav Kozlov. His trades brought to Detroit Brad McCrimmon, Rick Green, Paul Ysebaert, and Kris Draper, providing experience, skill, and speed.
Murray never gets enough credit, it seems, for upgrading the Red Wings’ roster.
Yzerman was also the subject of trade talks twice in the 1990s, first in 1992 when Jimmy Devellano and Murray were in charge, and then in 1995, when Scotty Bowman had a major hand in personnel moves. The story goes that only a stop sign from owner Mike Ilitch prevented Yzerman from being shipped to the Ottawa Senators in 1995.
The underlying tone of the 1995 trade talks were based on Bowman’s disappointment with Yzerman’s two-way play. The Detroit captain performed superbly in the regular season, but his Red Wings were a playoff flop.
Ed Willes of the New York Times chronicled Yzerman’s trip from playoff disappointment to Stanley Cup champ and Conn Smythe Trophy winner after Detroit’s sweep of the Washington Capitals in 1998, the Detroit Red Wings’ second consecutive Cup after a 42-year drought.
Wrote Willes:
“When Bowman took over the team in 1993-94, the Wings were a talented, explosive offensive team that was also too soft for the playoff grind. Bowman eventually changed the makeup of the team, transforming the Red Wings into a gritty squad capable of playing a strong two-way game. And critical to that makeover was the transformation of Yzerman.
”We depended on Steve to score too much,” is Bowman’s explanation. ”When you’re not expected to score 65 goals a season, you can do more things. As you get older, and get more experience, you evolve into that kind of player. I’ve seen it happen to a lot of players.”
But Bowman almost did not see it happen to Yzerman.
Bowman then discussed a deal with Ottawa, with Ilitch stepping in to shut down such talk, according to Willes’ story, Red Wings legend, and other published reports.
And this should explain Yzerman’s deliberate style: draft, deal, wait.
He’s drafted well, of course, coming off a terrible run of picks under the previous GM, Ken Holland. Again, a patient approach. Yzerman gave Holland’s prospects plenty of time and chances; then he shipped out such underachievers as Filip Zadina, Filip Hronek and Anthony Mantha.
His drafts? Mo Seider and Lucas Raymond have been instant contributors, and 6-foot-6 Simon Edvinsson appears to be a rising star on the blue line.
His deals have brought in Alex DeBrincat, Jake Walman, Robby Fabbri, and Ville Husso. He’d found offense in free agents J.T. Compher and Andrew Copp.
As for the deliberate approach, think of it this way: Yzerman realizes some players need time to change. For some, the transformation might be as drastic as going from scoring 65 goals to settling for 30, winning more faceoffs, shortening your shifts, and making sure to neutralize the other team’s top center.