The Detroit Red Wings are one of the most tight-lipped organizations in the NHL, if not the entire world of sports. This is a double-edged sword: on one hand, it gives general manager Steve Yzerman the ability to play his hand close to his chest. On the other, however, it leaves a lot of fans wondering about the team's direction.
Speculation is the name of the game in Detroit. NHL insiders can barely predict the Yzerplan. The fans are even further in the dark. This, in turn, leads to frustration about a lack of transparency. If the fans don't know what to expect, it's hard to blame them for frustrations about the organization's direction.
To be fair, Yzerman has stressed the importance of patience on several press conferences. But there comes a time where "trust the process" isn't enough anymore.
The Red Wings need to be more transparent with their fans.
How transparency will build trust with Red Wings fans
This isn't to say that the Red Wings need to hold the hands of the fanbase and inform them of their every move. They do, however, need to give the fanbase more than they've given over the last few seasons. Ten years without the playoffs means big changes need to happen. One of those changes should be the process of distributing information.
Whether it's politics, business or Red Wings hockey, in order to buy into a plan or vision, people need to understand the reasoning behind decisions. They need to know what Ben Chiarot did to earn a three-year contract extension. Fans deserve to know the decision-making behind playing Michael Brandsegg-Nygard 11 minutes a night.
Fans are passionate. They need a reason to buy in. Yzerman's lack of transparency has eroded the trust of a contingency of the fanbase. While faith in the Yzerplan hasn't faltered among the majority of fans, publications like the Detroit Free Press are already calling for Yzerman's job.
Some players believe "outside noise" from the fanbase and the media don't affect the locker room. Head coach Todd McLellan, on the other hand, disagrees. “This outside noise stuff or whatever, that’s inside noise. Those are our fans in our building," McLellan said following Detroit's tenth consecutive elimination. "They pay to watch us play, and we get paid well to perform for them.”
Steps the Red Wings can take to be transparent
Showing your hand doesn't mean you have to play it. If Yzerman is frustrated and wants to see a major change, laying out a plan for contention is the best way forward. What positions are the Red Wings planning to address this offseason? Which prospects are they hoping make the leap? How will changes this offseason make the roster tangibly better?
Yzerman doesn't need to sit down with the media and justify his every move. He simply needs to explain what the team needs, how they can fix it and what his plan is to make this team better. If left unaddressed, resentment from the playoff drought will only grow. NHL teams feed off the energy of their fans. If the response is lackluster, the team, in turn, will play with less heart. This, of course, leads to a more lackluster response, creating an eternally negative feedback loop.
In order to fix this, the fans deserve to know more about the Yzerplan. They deserve to hear more from Steve Yzerman. The cloak and dagger backroom conversations dynamic doesn't work anymore. This offseason is Yzerman's toughest audition yet. If he wants it to go well, he'll need to be prepared to answer some tough questions.
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