Yzerplan: On track, or abject failure?

[Lloyd Braun]

People made fun the of the Shanaplan... but it only took him 1-2 years to turn that moribund franchise into an annual 100-point team and legit contender.

Whereas... in year 6 of the Yzerplan, they aren't anywhere close to competing for a cup and they still seem 3-4 years away at least. They haven't even technically been that close to the playoffs. The closest they've gotten is "within reach" in February before they totally collapsed in March and fell far out of it the last two years.

The other day he made an insane comment to the press about his failed offseason, paraphrasing "free agents just don't want to come to Detroit. It's a hard sell because we've missed the playoffs so much. What do you want me to do about it?"

I thought that was insane. He is the GM. Who the hell else is responsible for successfully recruiting free agents? And who the hell else is responsible for this being the longest rebuild in NHL history? He has to take a lot of accountability for the fact they aren't in the playoffs the last couple of years.

Because he's their modern day Tom Brady as well as the Tampa success, the fans in Detroit think he's god, so there is no urgency or pressure on him to perform.

As much as I dislike the Red Wings, I do respect their franchise and think the league is better when they are actually contenders.

Am I the only one who thinks the Yzerplan has been a total failure, thus far? Because I don't see much criticism of what he's been doing, while accomplishing absolutely nothing in results.

Curious what Blues Talk thinks.

[MiamiLaw]

I've said it many times...he is the most overrated GM in the league.

[BalotelliMassive]

It seems to be a minor success as they're contending for the playoffs but their conference was bad last season. Their biggest problem has been the failure to get a number one goalie but that can be solved with a trade - apparently their prospect group is still amongst the best and it's time for them to graduate and sink or swim.

[Frank Barone]

It looks like Julien BriseBois may have been the genius that built the Lightning into perennial contenders and 2x cup champions, working at first as the Assistant GM under Yzerman and then becoming GM when Yzerman left. Brisebois even brought Jon Cooper into the Tampa organization, originally to be the coach of their AHL team.

[larueskee]

Detroit is a terrible city but it was a terrible city long before Yzerman arrived in any capacity. Recruitment might be better if he had used the last several seasons to improve the team but he has failed. I think some of his problem is based on his own former production and his former player salary. He never got the money some of these 70 point scorers are getting when he was racking up his hall of fame stats. He might have made what Thompson and Kyrou got at the very end of his career but the best of his deals I think was for $6 million a year with some bonus potential. He can't relate to what guys make today and has not been able to put that aside. Hes arrogant, so the team can't move beyond him. Here is a good read.

Red Wings may have a Steve Yzerman problem and it's a major red flag
The Detroit Red Wings could have more than a playoff-caliber lineup in 2025-26, but is general manager Steve Yzerman holding them back?

LINK: https://octopusthrower.com/red-wings-ma ... r-red-flag

[danno]

You mean to tell me that "free Little Ceasars pizza for life" isn't enough to lure in the big UFA's? Inconceivable!

[theograce]

I've said it many times...he is the most overrated GM in the league.

People here used to call Maurice overrated too. Lots goes into it.

[Pierre McGuire]

Not failed…just stalled. Won’t be failed until he’s fired or he resigns. They have some good young players now and quite a few coming.

[zamadoo]

Tell ya what, since he's having troubles signing FAs, we'll send him Kyrou, Buch, Faulk, and hometown boy Krug for Kane, Rasmusssen, Wallinder, Sandin Pellikka, and Brandsegg-Nygard.

[TheJackBurton]

One thing I've always noticed is the difference between a successful program and a failing one has a lot more to do with its minors system than the NHL club itself.

So many teams don't have good coaching and development in their system so their players when they come up never become more than average. How many times have you seen players from Buffalo leave and be better on their new teams? More times than it should be happening.

I am quite glad that Army has always taken our minor league team seriously (except when we had those issues for a few years with losing the contract)

Even with all the high draft picks Yzerman has had, they haven't produced a ton of difference makers, just a lot of meh.

[MiamiLaw]

I've said it many times...he is the most overrated GM in the league.

People here used to call Maurice overrated too. Lots goes into it.

I hated the PoMo hire

[bluetunehead]

We're definitely getting to the 'put up or shut up' seasons for him as GM. They have a stacked prospect pool, but that only gets you so far. They need a goalie, and they need their young players to take the next step... now. The failure of Zadina to become anything (and to a lesser extent Rasmussen) has begun to take its toll. Luckily it seems like they've hit on Seider, Raymond, Edvinsson, and Kasper. Those have all been from Yzerman drafts.

[Hockey Pete]

One thing I've always noticed is the difference between a successful program and a failing one has a lot more to do with its minors system than the NHL club itself.

So many teams don't have good coaching and development in their system so their players when they come up never become more than average. How many times have you seen players from Buffalo leave and be better on their new teams? More times than it should be happening.

I am quite glad that Army has always taken our minor league team seriously (except when we had those issues for a few years with losing the contract)

Even with all the high draft picks Yzerman has had, they haven't produced a ton of difference makers, just a lot of meh.

You make two great points here;

First, steering kids to the best league/teams for them to grow is critical. A kid like Gibson could have played in the AHL this season instead of being an over-ager at the OHL, so he basically had NO GROWTH this season in a league he out-grew a season ago... Yzerman has an issue with keeping kids in Canadian juniors when they're ready to take the next step.

Second, his drafting philosophy is WAY too much flash and not enough sizzle. Army will draft the occasional flashy kid, but NOT if that kid isn't first a hockey player. Yzerman rarely does well beyond his 1st round picks as he's looking for flashy kids in rounds that should be focused on finding kids with NHL potential on lower lines and pairings... because you need those players too.

Just my 2 cents...

[Frank Underwood]

It looks like Julien BriseBois may have been the genius that built the Lightning into perennial contenders and 2x cup champions, working at first as the Assistant GM under Yzerman and then becoming GM when Yzerman left. Brisebois even brought Jon Cooper into the Tampa organization, originally to be the coach of their AHL team.

Yeah, I’ll give Yzerman credit for assembling a lot of talent in Tampa, with the benefit of several very high draft picks. But it took BriseBois to turn Tampa into a great “team” by brining in some of the grit players they needed to win in the playoffs, including Maroon. I’d say Detroit needs to make the playoffs in the 25/26 season or maybe they need to bump him over to another job in the organization.

[theograce]

I've said it many times...he is the most overrated GM in the league.

People here used to call Maurice overrated too. Lots goes into it.

I hated the PoMo hire

Now he can have any woman or man in Florida

[TheJackBurton]

One thing I've always noticed is the difference between a successful program and a failing one has a lot more to do with its minors system than the NHL club itself.

So many teams don't have good coaching and development in their system so their players when they come up never become more than average. How many times have you seen players from Buffalo leave and be better on their new teams? More times than it should be happening.

I am quite glad that Army has always taken our minor league team seriously (except when we had those issues for a few years with losing the contract)

Even with all the high draft picks Yzerman has had, they haven't produced a ton of difference makers, just a lot of meh.

You make two great points here;

First, steering kids to the best league/teams for them to grow is critical. A kid like Gibson could have played in the AHL this season instead of being an over-ager at the OHL, so he basically had NO GROWTH this season in a league he out-grew a season ago... Yzerman has an issue with keeping kids in Canadian juniors when they're ready to take the next step.

Second, his drafting philosophy is WAY too much flash and not enough sizzle. Army will draft the occasional flashy kid, but NOT if that kid isn't first a hockey player. Yzerman rarely does well beyond his 1st round picks as he's looking for flashy kids in rounds that should be focused on finding kids with NHL potential on lower lines and pairings... because you need those players too.

Just my 2 cents...

I agree Pete.

Putting kids in a league that isn't going to develop them is just a terrible strategy