Detroit Red Wings fans are fed up, and it's easy to see why.
Any shred of hope remaining in the so-called "Yzerplan" evaporated on the first day of free agency, when the team did... well, hardly anything.
It's not to say that the Red Wings haven't been busy. They traded for John Gibson to shore up their crease, and they've made a smattering of depth signings, including John Leonard, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Ian Mitchell. They've re-signed Elmer Soderblom and Patrick Kane to one-year deals. But in a do-or-die year for the Red Wings, when Steve Yzerman's seat is (or should be) warmer than ever, depth moves are hardly going to cut it.
The Red Wings' failure to make any real, needle-moving transactions on or before July 1 is illustrative of Yzerman's entire tenure, and it's the reason this rebuild won't work in its current form. They have a strong core in place; but until they make a trade or free agent signing of real significance, the Red Wings are doomed to remain on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in.
The Red Wings rebuild won’t work unless they copy this from Vegas and Florida
One need look no further than two most recent Stanley Cup champions for examples of how landing "the big fish" via trade or free agency can get a team with an already-strong core over the hump and turn it into a legitimate contender.
The Vegas Golden Knights acquired Jack Eichel in 2021 and won the Cup in 2023. Now, they've also landed Mitch Marner and look poised to make a deep postseason run in 2025. Similarly, the Florida Panthers brought in Matthew Tkachuck in 2022 and proceeded to make three appearances in the Stanley Cup Final (and win two of them). They also went out and added Brad Marchand at the trade deadline before finding a way to bring him back for this season alongside both Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad.
Again, the Red Wings have a core in place, and it's gotten them into playoff contention in 2024 and 2025. But they haven't made that big deadline trade, offseason move or free agent signing in either season, and it's resulted in them missing the postseason both times.
It's past time for Yzerman to go big game hunting and supplement the likes of Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider with a high-quality, blockbuster offseason acquisition. Admittedly, though, it's going to be harder to do that when your best sales pitch to free agents is that you almost made the playoffs two years ago.