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Breaking: Steve Yzerman’s Job on the Line? The Shocking Truth About the Detroit Red Wings’ Struggling GM
The Detroit Red Wings are at a critical point in their development with Steve Yzerman at the helm, says Adam Proteau.
In this series, we’re identifying an individual on the ‘hot seat’ – an NHL player, coach, GM or owner – who’s facing a considerable amount of pressure to produce impressive results or deal with consequences that very well could affect their current relationship with their team. Also, we’re pointing out another person on the ‘cold seat’ as someone very likely to remain on their team because they’re as productive as possible.
Red Wings’ Hot Seat: Steve Yzerman, GM
When he took over Detroit’s GM role in April 2019, Yzerman was emerging as a star executive, guiding the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup final appearance and setting them up for the Cup wins the Bolts enjoyed in 2020 and 2021. Resumes don’t get much better than the one Yzerman had when he returned to the Red Wings as GM.
But success has been much harder to come by for him in the past five years, with the Wings missing the playoffs and finishing no higher than fifth place in their division in that span. While most of those years have been in a rebuild, they just missed out last season and could have looked to have been more competitive the year prior.
Yzerman also has made some questionable decisions in recent years. Did you know Detroit’s second-highest-paid defenseman at the moment is frequent healthy scratch Justin Holl? That will change when star blueliner and RFA Moritz Seider agrees to a contract extension, but it’s difficult to see what the Red Wings were thinking with that deal for Holl.
Similarly, Yzerman’s signing of center Andrew Copp has not panned out as hoped, with the 30-year-old center posting only 13 goals and 33 points in 79 games this past season. Given that Copp has three years left at a salary cap hit of $5.625 million, his contract is an overpayment so far.
Once again this summer, with the free-agent acquisitions of winger Vladimir Tarasenko, defenseman Erik Gustafsson and goalies Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell, Yzerman has spent money trying to augment the lineup. But there are few people who see the Red Wings as a 100-percent lock to get back into the post-season. And if Detroit does miss the playoffs this coming year, the focus will center around Yzerman’s blueprint for success. And it won’t be positive.
You can only dine out on your reputation for so long before your current stretch of success or failure overrides that reputation. That’s where Yzerman is with the Wings today. Few playoff bubble teams are dealing with more pressure than Detroit is, and the ramifications of another year of disappointment will greatly influence how much longer Yzerman has the keys to the kingdom.
Red Wings’ Cold Seat: (tie) Lucas Raymond, RW, and Moritz Seider, D
Two of Yzerman’s best moves as Wings GM are the drafting and development of 22-year-old Raymond and 23-year-old Seider. And considering Raymond had a breakout year in which he generated 31 goals and 72 points in 82 games, he and Seider – both of who are currently RFAs – will eat up much of Detroit’s $17.6 million in current cap space.
Even if Seider and Raymond can hone their craft in the next few years, the Red Wings could still use a bit more core generational talent possessed by some of their Atlantic Division rivals, although they have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL. But Raymond and Seider are year-in, year-out all-star-caliber performers, and they represent the future and the present of the organization. Neither of the duo are anywhere close to their competitive peak, and that has to be great comfort to Wings fans.
