There’s nothing worse than when an executive builds a borderline dynasty in one city, comes to your city six seasons ago, and still has nothing to show for it in terms of a postseason berth. That’s been the case with Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, whose track record in Tampa still speaks for itself, despite the Lightning’s recent early exit from the playoffs.
But it stings, nonetheless. It’s one of those, “Well, why could he build a team like that in Florida, but he can’t do the same here?” Hey, this happens all across the professional sports landscape, and it’s not just limited to executives. It’s players, coaches, and even regimes that succeed in one place, but falter in their next stop.
While we’ve criticized Yzerman and the way he’s handled the Red Wings lately, we also need to recall some of the good he’s done. So, let’s take a look at some of the positives amidst what’s been a roller coaster of six seasons.
Steve Yzerman’s solid drafting in the early rounds has built a core
Teams without a strong core can forget about even contending for the playoffs, and they can take years to build. At the absolute least, Yzerman hasn’t just built a strong core; his players are, for the most part, as advertised.
Look at how well Marco Kasper fared this season. Lucas Raymond is giving opponents headaches, Simon Edvinsson made real progress, and Moritz Seider’s long since solidified his spot as an upper-echelon and intimidating defenseman.
Plus, he’s got prospects like Sebastian Cossa in the pipeline, and it’s only a matter of time before he’s with the big club alongside other youngsters like Nate Danielson. That said, Yzerman’s core isn’t finished yet.
While he hasn’t made a big trade that many Red Wings fans wanted in a while, he still brought in young talent like Alex DeBrincat a couple years back in a blockbuster deal. And, in case you already forgot, that trade has paid dividends, given DeBrincat’s productivity.
Yzerman also opted for a full-on, time-consuming rebuild
We also need to remember that the Yzerplan involved tearing the team down to its foundation. He tore down a mansion, in this case, until there was nothing left but the foundation, and then he replaced the foundation before building on top of a new one.
In sports leagues like the NBA and NFL, a full-on rebuild, should an executive get enough time, can last between three to five years. But in the NHL, it’s different, since almost zero draft prospects are ready to play alongside the big club and against 31 others for at least a year, but often longer.
This means it could take roughly four years for a rebuild to make any real progress. Just look at the Blackhawks, who are in at least Year 3 of their rebuild following Year 2 of the Connor Bedard era. They’re still well entrenched in the NHL’s doldrums and they probably won’t compete until at least 2026-27, and this is me being generous.
When you go this route, a rebuild of such a magnitude can take five to seven seasons, with seven being the closer number. So, when you look at it from this scope, Yzerman still has another season to prove that he’s ‘the guy’ to take the Wings back to the playoffs.
Yeah, it might be frustrating, and yes, Yzerman deserves intense criticism for not deviating even slightly from the plan when you can argue he should’ve. But, when you look at the big picture, he’s made progress, and that progress at least had the Wings in contention.