Was Yzerman’s Mistake Trying to Make Red Wings Better Too Quickly?

Danny Wild-Imagn Images

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Steve Yzerman’s first season as GM of the Detroit Red Wings was a horrendous show. The Wings wound up 17-49-5 for 39 points. That was the worst record of any NHL team by a whopping 23 points.

Detroit captain Dylan Larkin, the lone survivor from that team still wearing the Winged Wheel, remembers how terrible those days were.

“I think for a lot of those years you go into the season and you want to make the playoffs,” Larkin said. “But realistically, was that going to happen?

“I’m trying to say there was some years where it wasn’t really what we were trying to do.”

Yes, it was bad, and it was ugly. And in retrospect, despite that, perhaps it should’ve been allowed to continue a little bit longer.

Detroit improved to 19 wins and 48 points in the COVID-shortened 56-game 2020-21 NHL campaign. Jumping to 32 wins and 74 points the following season, in the summer of 2022, Yzerman decided that it was time to go all in.

He signed UFAs Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, David Perron, Jordan Oesterle, Robert Hagg, and Dominik Kubalik. Yzerman also traded for goalie Ville Husso.

The return on investment was three more wins and six more points. And ever since, the Red Wings have been mired on a treadmill of mediocrity.

“Seven years ago, I knew what I signed up for,” Yzerman said. “I knew what the job, the task at hand, was. And so, when exactly were we going to be a playoff team? I could never pinpoint that.”

The faces and names keep changing. Each season, they get incrementally better, but not yet good enough to reach the promised land of playoff hockey.

All of which leads to a pertinent question. Should Yzerman have sat back a little bit longer and let his team keep taking their lumps? Would such short-term pain have led to long-term gain?

Red Wings Have Been Surpassed By Teams That Went Younger

When the Red Wings were bad in Yzerman’s early years in charge, the NHL Entry Draft rewarded the club with Moritz Seider (6-2019), Lucas Raymond (4-2020), and Simon Edvinsson (6-2021). Since upscaling to the mediocre class of NHL squads, the draft hasn’t been kind.

And let’s not forget, while the Red Wings were enjoying those 70-point seasons, they were missing out on the chance to perhaps add a generational talent like first overall picks Connor Bedard (2023) or Macklin Celebrini (2024).

While the Wings idle in no man’s land, they’ve been surpassed by teams like Buffalo, Montreal, and Ottawa. Each of those teams took their lumps for years while going with a younger lineup than Detroit. Yet, today, that choice is paying dividends.

Now, it’s hard to criticize anyone for trying to improve. And ultimately, that’s what Yzerman was seeking to do.

Still, you have to wonder. Had the Red Wings stayed nearer to the bottom for a couple more years, might they be a lot closer to the top today?

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