I don't disagree with a ton of what you said, building through FA is how losers build teams. NHL FA is arguably the worst of the big 4 in terms of overspending..
What I really truly think Stevie's biggest failures are boil down to two things.
Pro scouting or decision making has been terrible. You can call Copp, Holl or pretty much any other FA you want a bridge but they were all bad. Publicly received poorly on the day they were signed and now are just boat anchors. I was going to start this saying "arguably" but I cant because it isnt defensible, his only good FA signings have been 1 or 2 year deals for old players.
When the team is within reach Stevie hasn't gotten them the help to make the playoffs. Stevie of all people should know how important making the playoffs is. He couldn't win the cup until getting knocked out 13 times prior....The guys in the building need to get playoff experience. They are not just going to turn the page and be cup contenders automatically.
Completely agree -- the pro scouting department is a mess and they need to show their stuff in the near future. Hoping for a trade or two this offseason!
The problem is that Red Wing fans have a serious case of "being this bad is supposed to happen to shitty sunbelt teams, not MY distinguished franchise!"
Should've just started the rebuild after Lidstrom retired, but everyone insisted the playoff streak was oh so important.
What an unnecessarily mean-spirited post. I'm not in the fire Yzerman crowd at all, but acting like he's above criticism and that frustration with the state of the franchise is unwarranted is just dumb. We're headed toward a 10+ year playoff drought and hearing "just wait a few more years" for the 5th year in a row is going to wear on peoples' patience. You do make a lot of good points here, but the attitude is insufferable.
I think you missed some of the points of the article. It's absolutely fair to criticize Yzerman -- in fact, I did it in the first paragraph and have done so multiple times on this site! (I could probably write a dissertation on that Jake Walman move but that's neither here nor there). The point I'm trying to make is that the Wings are in a very tough spot and no single free agent signing or trade is going to suddenly turn this team into a Cup contender. The meltdowns I saw yesterday and on draft day were so far off base.
In short: it's okay to be frustrated - angry, even - but the season doesn't start for another three months. Let the dust settle before making big assumptions!
>We're headed toward a 10+ year playoff drought and hearing "just wait a few more years" for the 5th year in a row is going to wear on peoples' patience.
What made you a prophet? Also, it's funny how spoiled this fanbase is considering there's teams like the Blue Jackets and Sabres who have jack all to show for their time in the league, and I'm sure their fans would love what the Wings have had. Maybe what's really insufferable is when I log onto the Red Wings subreddit or anywhere else Red Wings related and see people calling DETROIT a poverty franchise. Like, are you kidding me? Then again, it was a Redditor who made that remark, and you know how THEY are.
> But it isn’t because Yzerman didn’t sign every single top free agent out there.
100%. UFA pickings this year was slim. And overpriced. e.g., Marner got Rantanen money and Marner certainly isn't Rantanen.
1. We still don't know why Walman for all intents and purposes was fired.
2. Gus for Ghost. Da fuq?
3. Sure Kane is worth 5-10 OT winners a season...
3a... but Kane doesn't take faceoffs, doesn't back check, doesn't skate past center ice, doesn't go into the corners. So he's pretty much a waste just coasting around out there otherwise.
4. Compher: $5.1 MM/per and 11 goals in 2024.
> Andrew Copp [...] wasn’t signed for that role. He was signed to be a stopgap player
Complete. Utter. Effing nonsense. You do NOT pay stopgap players $5MM/per. You pay a stopgap player something around $1MM for 1 year like the majority of signings this week.
5. Copp: $5.625 MM/per and 10 goals in 2024.
6. There doesn't appear to be any kind of a clear plan whatsoever for Cossa.
7. JVR would have been a good signing 5 years ago.
8. Leonard cannot even crack NHL ice. In Arizona.
9. Holl leads the team in assists... to the opposition.
10. 2019 draft... 10 picks in rounds 2-7, excluding those in the NCAA, 6 are still in juniors.
11. 2020 draft... 11 picks in rounds 2-7, it looks like only 1 will make NHL ice.
I don't disagree with a ton of what you said, building through FA is how losers build teams. NHL FA is arguably the worst of the big 4 in terms of overspending..
What I really truly think Stevie's biggest failures are boil down to two things.
Pro scouting or decision making has been terrible. You can call Copp, Holl or pretty much any other FA you want a bridge but they were all bad. Publicly received poorly on the day they were signed and now are just boat anchors. I was going to start this saying "arguably" but I cant because it isnt defensible, his only good FA signings have been 1 or 2 year deals for old players.
When the team is within reach Stevie hasn't gotten them the help to make the playoffs. Stevie of all people should know how important making the playoffs is. He couldn't win the cup until getting knocked out 13 times prior....The guys in the building need to get playoff experience. They are not just going to turn the page and be cup contenders automatically.
Completely agree -- the pro scouting department is a mess and they need to show their stuff in the near future. Hoping for a trade or two this offseason!
Maybe stop hiring teammates and buddies?!
Again, and in the context of your post, the buck stops with Yzerman. That's his responsibility. That's NOT me not being happy.
>Maybe stop hiring teammates and buddies?!
Fair, but then who should he go after then?
The problem is that Red Wing fans have a serious case of "being this bad is supposed to happen to shitty sunbelt teams, not MY distinguished franchise!"
Should've just started the rebuild after Lidstrom retired, but everyone insisted the playoff streak was oh so important.
What an unnecessarily mean-spirited post. I'm not in the fire Yzerman crowd at all, but acting like he's above criticism and that frustration with the state of the franchise is unwarranted is just dumb. We're headed toward a 10+ year playoff drought and hearing "just wait a few more years" for the 5th year in a row is going to wear on peoples' patience. You do make a lot of good points here, but the attitude is insufferable.
I think you missed some of the points of the article. It's absolutely fair to criticize Yzerman -- in fact, I did it in the first paragraph and have done so multiple times on this site! (I could probably write a dissertation on that Jake Walman move but that's neither here nor there). The point I'm trying to make is that the Wings are in a very tough spot and no single free agent signing or trade is going to suddenly turn this team into a Cup contender. The meltdowns I saw yesterday and on draft day were so far off base.
In short: it's okay to be frustrated - angry, even - but the season doesn't start for another three months. Let the dust settle before making big assumptions!
> I think you missed some of the points of the article. It's absolutely fair
> to criticize Yzerman -- in fact, I did it in the first paragraph
Nonsense. The entire premise of your shitpost is you lashing out at the fan base.
It's called having perspective. You have to wait sometimes for your team to get better. Get the fuck over it instead of whining.
>We're headed toward a 10+ year playoff drought and hearing "just wait a few more years" for the 5th year in a row is going to wear on peoples' patience.
What made you a prophet? Also, it's funny how spoiled this fanbase is considering there's teams like the Blue Jackets and Sabres who have jack all to show for their time in the league, and I'm sure their fans would love what the Wings have had. Maybe what's really insufferable is when I log onto the Red Wings subreddit or anywhere else Red Wings related and see people calling DETROIT a poverty franchise. Like, are you kidding me? Then again, it was a Redditor who made that remark, and you know how THEY are.
> But it isn’t because Yzerman didn’t sign every single top free agent out there.
100%. UFA pickings this year was slim. And overpriced. e.g., Marner got Rantanen money and Marner certainly isn't Rantanen.
1. We still don't know why Walman for all intents and purposes was fired.
2. Gus for Ghost. Da fuq?
3. Sure Kane is worth 5-10 OT winners a season...
3a... but Kane doesn't take faceoffs, doesn't back check, doesn't skate past center ice, doesn't go into the corners. So he's pretty much a waste just coasting around out there otherwise.
4. Compher: $5.1 MM/per and 11 goals in 2024.
> Andrew Copp [...] wasn’t signed for that role. He was signed to be a stopgap player
Complete. Utter. Effing nonsense. You do NOT pay stopgap players $5MM/per. You pay a stopgap player something around $1MM for 1 year like the majority of signings this week.
5. Copp: $5.625 MM/per and 10 goals in 2024.
6. There doesn't appear to be any kind of a clear plan whatsoever for Cossa.
7. JVR would have been a good signing 5 years ago.
8. Leonard cannot even crack NHL ice. In Arizona.
9. Holl leads the team in assists... to the opposition.
10. 2019 draft... 10 picks in rounds 2-7, excluding those in the NCAA, 6 are still in juniors.
11. 2020 draft... 11 picks in rounds 2-7, it looks like only 1 will make NHL ice.
All of that Jake, is 100% on Steve Yzerman.
Your post is bad and you should feel ashamed.
Who cares about Walman? He sucked anyway.