I think this is pretty much right. It's not that I think Yzerman's done nothing wrong, but it's tough when writers parachute in and declare it failed without much research, mostly because they feel like the Wings _should_ be better off by now. I understand it's not fun to dive into why a bad team is bad, but it makes me reflexively push back on criticisms because I don't think they're coming by them honestly. But I do think there's space to discuss what has been done wrong without letting it mean he has to be out.
It's similar to Harbaugh, someone I was wrong about in 2020. If they fire Yzerman now, his record means he'd be a better candidate for the job than any of the people you're actually looking at, which means you're basically just saying one of three things: 1) this guy's lost his touch and is on a major career downturn; 2) this guy might just be too tied to this place and enough has gone wrong that we just have to try starting over with someone else; 3) we can just hire someone and whoever takes over from him will get the benefit of all the work that's been done before. The contrast between what Yzerman got and what the new GM would get when he took over would be vast.
My main takeaways from his tenure are:
1. The 2022 offseason might be the critical mistake we look back at after Yzerman's time in Detroit is done
2. You should always try to be the second GM of the rebuild - the one who's taking over when there are a bunch of young promising players who haven't made the league yet, not when the team is at horrible rock-bottom AND old
yeah i think national writers have been fairly lazy in analyzing the situation, so I was trying to look at both sides of the coin, things Yzerman has done well and the reasons why things on ice are still pretty bad. As you mention, summer of 2022 with Copp/Chiarot and pushing the franchise out of tank time right as the Bedard draft was coming up is a decision that will be discussed for a long time. Wasn't an easy choice to make but an important one.
As for the second point, I always like the saying that tearing the team down and making them bad is the easy part. Drafting a core of great players is a lot harder. If you can come in as a GM once someone else has already gotten the good young players, makes your life a lot easier
Really interesting analysis. I don't know enough to know, but it feels like dumping Kane and and babying injuries is the right way to go. It seems unlikely they will make the playoffs so now is the time to not claw for wins.
I think this is pretty much right. It's not that I think Yzerman's done nothing wrong, but it's tough when writers parachute in and declare it failed without much research, mostly because they feel like the Wings _should_ be better off by now. I understand it's not fun to dive into why a bad team is bad, but it makes me reflexively push back on criticisms because I don't think they're coming by them honestly. But I do think there's space to discuss what has been done wrong without letting it mean he has to be out.
It's similar to Harbaugh, someone I was wrong about in 2020. If they fire Yzerman now, his record means he'd be a better candidate for the job than any of the people you're actually looking at, which means you're basically just saying one of three things: 1) this guy's lost his touch and is on a major career downturn; 2) this guy might just be too tied to this place and enough has gone wrong that we just have to try starting over with someone else; 3) we can just hire someone and whoever takes over from him will get the benefit of all the work that's been done before. The contrast between what Yzerman got and what the new GM would get when he took over would be vast.
My main takeaways from his tenure are:
1. The 2022 offseason might be the critical mistake we look back at after Yzerman's time in Detroit is done
2. You should always try to be the second GM of the rebuild - the one who's taking over when there are a bunch of young promising players who haven't made the league yet, not when the team is at horrible rock-bottom AND old
yeah i think national writers have been fairly lazy in analyzing the situation, so I was trying to look at both sides of the coin, things Yzerman has done well and the reasons why things on ice are still pretty bad. As you mention, summer of 2022 with Copp/Chiarot and pushing the franchise out of tank time right as the Bedard draft was coming up is a decision that will be discussed for a long time. Wasn't an easy choice to make but an important one.
As for the second point, I always like the saying that tearing the team down and making them bad is the easy part. Drafting a core of great players is a lot harder. If you can come in as a GM once someone else has already gotten the good young players, makes your life a lot easier
Think we're probably listening to the same national podcast 😂
Really interesting analysis. I don't know enough to know, but it feels like dumping Kane and and babying injuries is the right way to go. It seems unlikely they will make the playoffs so now is the time to not claw for wins.