Max Bultman of The Athletic wrote a detailed piece discussing "Why the Red Wings’ rebuild and playoff drought have dragged on under Steve Yzerman." It's worth the read, but I'm here to give you the more obvious answer on why this rebuild's taken the greater part of a decade, or at least it's heading that way.
In the NHL, your rebuilds aren't typically taking two or three years, something that you may see in the NFL and NBA. Instead, you're looking at a five-year plan, at minimum.
Sure, there are outliers, like what we saw in Montreal last season when the Canadiens surprised everyone and clinched a playoff spot. But that's not typical. More likely, you're tearing the big club down to the framework, trading away who you can for draft picks, and restocking the prospects pool.
Since the Wings prospects are some of the best out there, we can say, with confidence, that Steve Yzerman did a solid job building that pool. And that's the key to winning long-term when the team gets relevant, something the Wings have been looking more of in recent seasons.
Steve Yzerman had to make tough decisions along the way
The two that jumped out at me the most in Bultman's piece were Jake Walman and Filip Hronek. Yzerman moved Hronek and Walman in recent seasons, two players who are, at worst, solid top-four defensemen.
Both moves easily frustrated fans, and understandably so. Where would the Wings be, right now, if they still had Hronek and Walman? Likely a wild card team in a worst-case scenario.
But you also need to look two, three, four years ahead, and make sure you don't box yourself into salary cap constraints. That's something Yzerman avoided, and it gives him room to ink players who'll be in town, or already are in town, and will be part of a winning culture, to more lucrative deals at longer terms.
This isn't excusing Steve Yzerman or the Detroit Red Wings organization
While I saw where Yzerman was coming from in the Walman and Hronek deals, plus Tyler Bertuzzi, and letting defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere walk, Yzerman still had the Wings in prime playoff contention over the last two years.
But when he had the chance in 2024 and 2025 to help the Wings snag a playoff berth with just one more big trade, he fell flat. He didn't bring in anyone noteworthy enough to seriously try for a playoff push, and that was frustrating to see.
That said, we also need to account for opportunity cost. Would it have been short-term gain vs. long-term loss? Did Yzerman consider unseen effects as opposed to "only seeing what was immediately visible" when he ultimately never made a big trade at either deadline?
It would've likely diverted resources for short-term gain. So, while it made little sense at the time, once again, I could see where Yzerman was coming from there. After the fact, that is.
So, if Yzerman considered those long-term effectis, it, once again, goes to show you why this rebuild's taken as long as it has. From Day 1, Yzerman's been in it for the long game, and that's perfectly fine as we head into 2025-26.