Red Wings: Grading Yzerman’s Offseason Moves at the Halfway Point

The B+’s

Staal Trade  – B+

The only trade Yzerman made during the offseason was with the New York Rangers. The Red Wings agreed to take on Marc Staal’s contract in exchange for a second round pick.

It’s no secret in Detroit that Staal has had his share of struggles.  So why is this trade graded at a B? Well, in a year where Detroit was going to be a bottom feeder in almost every scenario, adding one more mediocre player hasn’t really hurt. Has Staal been a liability on the ice at times? Yes. But average (or even good) play won’t make a difference for this Red Wings team, and Yzerman knows this. And somehow, there is rumor that Staal could be dealt for more draft capital by the deadline (his numbers have been better because of the aforementioned Stecher). So in the end, while adding Staal might make the roster worse for now, it’s going to pay off in the future, maybe even with another draft pick. If he does that— it’s an A.

Buying Out Abdelkader  – B+

Justin Abdelkader’s departure from Detroit was long overdue. His ludicrous seven year contract was in its fifth year when the Red Wings bought out the remaining two seasons. In the 2019-20 season, Abdelkader had only 3 assists in 49 games played – not consistent with over $4 million in a cap hit.

The move was the right one. Buying out the contract not only saved Detroit space in the salary cap, it also signified that the organization was finally moving on from some of the contract sins of the Ken Holland era.

The move gets a B, as it won’t help build the Wing’s future success as much as draft picks and solid free agency pick ups will. But it was a good move to both speed up the rebuild and free up a little space for future signings.