Elliotte Friedman, on the Friday edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast with Kyle Bukauskas, discussed the Detroit Red Wings situation involving General Manager Steve Yzerman. Yzerman made bold statements during his Thursday press conference, saying the Red Wings need better players. It is on him to do that, but he still feels his team isn’t there just yet.
NHLRumors.com Transcription
It’s Time for the Detroit Red Wings to Add Some NHL-Calibre Players
Elliotte Friedman: “And I don’t know if anybody watched Detroit, but man Yzerman looked mad. Yeah, he looked you could tell he was mad. And there’s a lot that’s still going to play out there. He left it open, as he said, I’m going to see it through. I’m not going anywhere, and I wouldn’t expect any different. That guy is no quitter. You’re going to have to drag him out by his arms for him not to try to fix it and make it work, but he left the possibility open that the structure changes.
And he definitely talked about player changes. One of the things I suspected was that a year ago, he took criticism, even internally, for not going out and helping them. This year, he helped them, and it still didn’t get them in, and you could tell he was mad at the players. And I think when you take a look at how hard Todd McClellan was on the Red Wings players after that last game, the 8-1 loss to Florida, and I think everybody understood why he felt that way.
Yzerman-McClellan up there together and Yzerman giving him a 100% vote of confidence. That was a message, and the message was the team I’ve put together; it’s not good enough. And we already knew that from the fact that they didn’t get in. But how sometimes managers will defend it, say we weren’t ready. We had some bad luck, maybe some injuries.
No, he wasn’t sugar coating anything. It’s what we’ve talked about how Yzermann has admitted he won’t pay prices, and especially for rentals. Big summer for him, he’s been, he’s put everyone on notice. It’s tough to predict if they don’t like I think it’s one of those things. If they don’t make a big trade this summer or a big move this summer, people are going to be shocked. And he’s walked himself into a position where he almost has to do it.”
What Will Happen with Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings?
Kyle Bukauskas: “It is something when he talked about him and Kris Draper talking about the team, even before things went off the skids in March, and going, I’m not sure we’re really as good as our record is saying right now, and made the moves of the deadline to try to improve them. But I just do get the feeling that internally there was like, okay, where we are in the standing says one thing, but whatever they were seeing on the inside or just watching with their eyes on the ice night to night, they’re going, we’re still not close.”
Friedman: “I’m glad you brought that up, Kyle, because that was really interesting to me, too. Like that wasn’t something he had to volunteer, right? He makes a point of saying that.”
NHLRumors.com Note: It is now or never for Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings. He has to make some moves to acquire the talent necessary to get this team back to the playoffs. The cupboard is full, and now is the time to deal. It is Yzerman’s job to get better players, three of whom were Brayden Schenn, Quinn Hughes, and Vincent Trocheck. Something has to give for the Red Wings.
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