Enough with the rebuilding excuse. This will be Yzermans 5th off-season. Make the fucking playoffs next season.
There is almost zero path to the playoffs next year, unless you want the Red Wings to be like the 2008 Pistons. Michael Bunting is the best free agent available and he’s going to want a Copp contract. You can’t do that. And until this team finds a few more goal scorers there just isn’t a path forward when you take into account all the teams better than Detroit in its own division.
they are 4 wins out of a playoff spot. That type of improvement is not unreasonable. Start trading draft picks and younger players for proven talent. Kasper can be the next Zadina for all we know.
That’s not how you build a contender, that’s how you keep a current contender’s window open. And Kasper and Zadina are terrible comps.
In a hard cap league you have to keep a balance with your contracts. That’s why we traded Hronek. He’s been good this season, but after next season he is going to be in line for a massive payday that wouldn’t make sense within our salary structure. By the time we are ready to contend for more than just a playoff spot, Hronek would be in his 30’s making 6.5-7 mil a year, killing our flexibility. For now it’s about draft and development. And I say this as someone who was all for getting Horvat, but I also get why we didn’t want to make such a commitment.
Maybe 4? I just don’t know if any team would be willing to give up on any of those top four players though. So the answer is probably 5.
The elite skating abilities of Wallinder at 6’4” and Edvinsson at 6’6” is gonna be fun for years to come.
Seider, Walman, Edvinsson and Wallinder are going to ge a great base, with Johansson, McIsaac, Chiarot, Maati and some wildcards in the system filling out the group. I'm less worried about the Wings defenseman corp between now and 2030 than any other position group. Especially if Chiarot is playing off-hand on the 3rd pairing
Seeing the young guys all look good tonight is good stuff. Kasper was moved to wing this period but I really think he’s going to end up starting next year as our 3C at a minimum. He isn’t at all out of place.
I know it's slow moving but enough young guys keep progressing at promising rates that I'm still high on this front office, not to mention they have a track record. May have just misjudged the timing a little bit. I still view wings in a different boat to Pistons and Tigers
He played 15 mins tonight, much against the top line in hockey and held his own. As an 18 year old center playing his first professional game in NA. Future is bright.
I’m really doing a 180 on what I think we do next year. This is such a bad UFA class that I anticipate is only going after a RHD like Severson or Mayfield. And it’s so hard to predict trades, so I’m going to guess we go young next season, younger than I could have guessed. Perron - Larkin - Kubalik Rasmussen - Copp - Raymond Berggren - Kasper - Fabbri Zadina - Veleno - Soderblom Luff Walman - Seider Edvinsson - Severaon Maata - Chiarot Lindstrom ??? Husso ??? I would guess we still look to add to our bottom six, but I am not sure we stray too far beyond this group next season.
In fairness, Yzerman and Lalonde have tried to tank. Ned has played, Luff is on the PP. The players just aren’t cooperating, which isn’t a bad thing.
Hockey isn't the same as basketball for tanking. Raymond 3 a, Seider 2 a, Berggren 1 g 1 a, Edvinsson a goal. I'm not going to be mad at the young guys playing hard, it's not like NHL is going to give Wings a jump in lottery anyway....
trust me, the Wings have been trying to tank since the TDL. The last ten days though, Larkin, Raymond and Seider have all decided to play incredibly well.
I’m curious if Yzerman is active this Summer. He’s gotta sign a RHD and a backup goalie and we still need to hit the salary floor, but based on how he handled Hronek, I’m going to guess he takes a step back and relies on internal improvement from the kids. But I would definitely assume next season gets punted on without a trade or some kind, especially when Perron and Kubalik will be sold pieces at the TDL.