The Red Wings concluded their season-ending press conferences yesterday, as the media heard from head coach Todd McLellan and general manager Steve Yzerman about all things 2024-25.
As far as these sessions go, this one had the juice. One of Yzerman’s more famous quotes during a media availability was something along the lines of “I’m trying to answer your question without actually answering it,” which is an ethos that’s apparent every time he’s in front of the media. Generally, he gives thoughtful responses that provide plenty of insight into his decision-making process… but stops short of revealing anything substantial about what he does or doesn’t plan to do, as he’s notorious for keeping plans close to the vest.
This presser was… a lot of that, but with some different tones. Yzerman began with some prepared notes, which essentially served as a preemptive response to the criticism we’ve heard from the media and fans for most of the season. It sounded slightly defensive, but was also refreshing in my book. He’s never come into one of these completely pleased with how the season went, but he was pretty direct about what he liked and didn’t like (moreso the latter).
I would recommend listening to it in its entirety if you’re able. I was a little delayed getting to it today and saw some juicy quotes on social media… which were less interesting once I heard the response in context. The nature of these press conferences draws out a lot of media, some of whom are only around a handful of times per year. I’m not going to criticize people working in an increasingly difficult industry, but there’s no denying some are looking for these money quotes to get social media traction, to over-dissect endlessly throughout the offseason, etc. I think perspective is important, which is why I recommend listening and reading on for some analysis of the highlights.
Parsing the word “morale”
The viral quote out of last week’s player media availability was Dylan Larkin suggesting that the team lost a little morale after the Red Wings didn’t add at the trade deadline. The deadline was one of the main topics addressed by Yzerman’s opening remarks, leading many to assume it was in direct response to Larkin’s comments. He suggested the leaders and/or highest-paid players on the team need to drive morale, and McLellan echoed that it was the responsibility of the team to have taken more points out of games it was in control of, and wouldn’t have been in the hands of a new body or two.
I understand why these quotes are blowing up, but I think this is a big nothing. Put yourself in Larkin’s shoes: the Red Wings last made the playoffs when he was a rookie, and as he’s continued to excel individually, he’s seen all of the players he came up with traded away — some of his closest real-life pals — while a lot of his USA Hockey friends had several long runs. That takes a tremendous mental toll. I’m sure he’s dying to be in a position where Detroit’s adding a couple veteran guns to help shore up depth and beyond sick of watching the playoffs from his couch. And he should be.
From Yzerman’s comments, it seems like he was in the market to make a move. But just because you want to, doesn’t mean you have to do it at all costs. After a few years of rental prices coming down, they skyrocketed this year. It made little sense for the Red Wings to dispense premium assets for, potentially, a temporary piece that would have… ultimately, probably helped them lose to Toronto or Washington, as I believe Ottawa and Montreal are about to do. And while Detroit was still alive around the trade deadline, its play was so inconsistent in the final six weeks that it’s hard to imagine an extra middle-six body or two would have changed the outcome. Say they added Brock Nelson, who would have easily slotted into the 2C role… what’s more important, squeaking into the playoffs, or the drastic leap forward Marco Kasper took getting those minutes? I’ll take the latter.
Yzerman said he discussed Larkin’s comments with him and said if Larkin wanted to share details of that discussion, the media could ask him. It’s a pretty direct response, but I don’t think it’s anything more than Yzerman’s competitive streak, much like Larkin displayed in making the comment. This whole thing has led to vague questions about Larkin as a leader (for the record, Yzerman and McLellan later praised Larkin’s leadership and expressed a desire to see more leadership from the rest of the roster), or Yzerman’s vision, whatever. I just see it like this: have you ever disagreed with your boss? Did it ruin your relationship, or did you work through it? (I mean, there are bad bosses out there, but just think generally).
Larkin’s frustration is understandable, but I would guess he’d at least walk back the comment if he could, knowing what it blew up into. His job is to lead this team into playing well enough where the front office wants to buy and not sell, and now they’ve been close for two straight years. Use it. Fuel for the flames. The players should be hungry, and I don’t see this “disagreement” as anything that’s going to linger.
Why staying the course makes sense
Naturally, there was a question about whether Yzerman feels he’s on the hot seat, which I felt he answered appropriately: it’s not his job to worry about that. I do think this is one of those “hot take” questions that kind of loses sight of what this season was. Detroit lucked out that Raymond and Seider were instant-impact players… beyond them, this is really the first year that Yzerman’s homegrown players have been in the lineup: Kasper, Edvinsson, Johansson, Soderblom and Berggren (who was technically Holland’s last draft).
I’ve written about this a few times, so I won’t belabor it. I don’t think the Red Wings signed guys like Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher to put them over the top. I think they signed them because the depth chart Yzerman inherited was barren, and they were age-appropriate, affordable (debatably) stopgaps who were willing to sign for term on a rebuilding team. We’ll see how things shake out next year, but Kasper seemingly has the edge to be next year’s 2C, pushing some veterans to lesser roles, and maybe a guy like Danielson can do the same next year. With all the selling that the Red Wings did under the last years of Holland and Yzerman’s first few years, they have simply just needed to find patches. Cycling out one- and two-year rentals doesn’t help build cohesion, but I think it helps emphasize the point here: you need to build through development, because free agency is chaos.
I know it’s a minority, but if you are in the market for a new GM… why? Yzerman obviously has a longer leash than the average GM because of what he’s meant to this franchise, but beyond that, what would a new voice accomplish? Should they blow it up? Much like 4-5 rookies worked their way in throughout this season, you could see Mazur, Danielson and Sandin-Pellikka push for spots next year (whether from the get-go or working their way in throughout the season)… Lombardi, Wallinder and Cossa the next year… Brandsegg-Nygard, Buchelnikov and Buium the next year… Plante, Kiiskinen and Augustine down the road, and surely a few more names I haven’t mentioned working their way into depth roles.
Not all of those players will work out, obviously, but these are all high picks on good tracks, right now. This has just been a consistent message all along: Yzerman wants to build through the draft. Some guys can make an impact within a year or two, but for the most part, it’s a multi-year process. Until it looks like this group he’s assembled isn’t going to move the needle, I don’t see what a change accomplishes.
On pro scouting
So far, I’ve largely defended what was an objectively unsuccessful season. I’m also disappointed with most of the players Detroit has added through free agency over the last few seasons. This has led to a narrative that I don’t quite agree with: that Detroit has bad pro scouting.
I’ve never been able to follow soccer, but for whatever reason, I love behind-the-scenes soccer docuseries. My favorite is almost 10 years old: Sunderland ‘Til I Die on Netflix. It chronicles a historic club struggling immensely which (spoiler) would go on to be relegated in consecutive seasons to fall to the third-tier of the English soccer pyramid. During one of their fateful seasons, the show highlights a “pro scouting” meeting, where the manager has asked his scouts for recommendations on a new striker, and they recommended Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which, in my interpretation, is the equivalent of recommending the Red Wings pick up Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin.
The manager responded that he didn’t realize he had to tell his scouts they didn’t need to scout Zlatan, who had been superb for years and was unobtainable. The point of this analogy is, I don’t think Detroit’s free-agent selections are a reflection on its pro scouts. Everyone is watching the NHL: Yzerman, his three assistant GMs, player personnel/player development staff, even amateur scouts. It’s the easiest and most fun league to watch — even a PR washout like me thinks he knows who’s good and who isn’t (I can assure you no one is asking or should ask the PR staff what they’d do).
It just doesn’t make sense to me to single that group out. I find it hard to believe the pro scouts would have said that Erik Gustafsson was a smarter free-agent pickup than, for example, Brandon Montour would have been (or trading for Cale Makar, like Sunderland’s scouts may have recommended). Like I said, free agency is chaos. Plan A can become Plan B can become Plan J within minutes of free agency opening.
This is getting a little bit in the weeds. To be clear: I think Detroit has done a bad job with free agents, but I think the blame needs to be spread across the entire front office. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to add a new voice or two. The reality is, not every free agent wants to sign with a borderline playoff team. Not every free agent makes sense to acquire, even if the cap hit works. I don’t think any of Detroit’s free agent additions truly handcuff them — there are buyout candidates, there are candidates to be dumped with a sweetener, there are guys they can push to get more out of. This all highlights why development is king.
To finish the thought, I think pro scouting is hard to assess from afar. I think that’s why teams have larger amateur scouting staffs. You need enough pro scouts to have boots on the ground across the league, know what’s going on beyond what gets reported, fill out your AHL roster with veterans, etc. These aren’t the sole decision-makers for free-agent pickups… just not how it works.
So what changes?
Unless Jim Rutherford is in your organization and wants to — for no reason — throw out there that Quinn Hughes might want to play with his brothers, you don’t really get a sense at these events as to what’s going to change. There isn’t any area that Yzerman didn’t call out at some point, save for the rookies — he wants more saves from goalies, more production out of his free agents adds, and more out of his stars, who tore it up on the power play but struggled at 5-on-5.
That’s where it gets a little difficult to analyze comments — there was a brief mention of “getting out of some contracts,” which I think makes sense when you look at Detroit’s upcoming free agents: Kane is the main one, and the sides have expressed mutual interest in continuing the relationship. Beyond that, unrestricteds are Petry, Smith, Motte, Lyon, Lagesson… basically just players in depth roles. If they want an overhaul, they need to move out some players who are under contract, and I think we’ll see multiple contracted players moved this summer to mix things up.
Beyond the pro scouting question, there was no information about any front-office changes. On the coaching front, the team has parted ways with goalie coach Alex Westlund and video coach LJ Scarpace. For what it’s worth, Westlund has been around for three years and has not had the best stable of goalies to work with, though it’s hard to argue we got the best from any of them. Similarly, it’s an impossible task to judge video coaches from afar — coaches’ challenges are their most public responsibility, and Detroit has been excellent at that — but there is a ton behind-the-scenes, video coaches put in major hours. I overlapped with LJ with the Wings and he’s a good dude — I have no doubts he’ll have options this summer.
Final thoughts
If you read all of this and did not heed my advice to watch the presser, I still think you should watch it. One detail omitted is that McLellan and Yzerman were available simultaneously. As McLellan is generally available to the media daily, it made sense that all but a question or two were directed to Yzerman, who is not available that regularly. McLellan did a great job jumping in to emphasize certain points from his perspective.
One point that he raised was that, after he took over, Detroit played at a pace which would have resulted in a playoff berth if extended over a full season, even with the terrible March — a month that he specifically detailed several games in which he felt the team threw points away. There was definitely “new coach bump” that unfortunately wore off, but I think everything McLellan said during the season about not really being able to change systems midstream was true. Based on what he got out of this roster, I think he’ll have good buy-in on anything he chooses to introduce come training camp.
It was definitely an eventful day, so let’s hear what others took away from the presser. Are we feeling positive? Negative? Am I overblowing or underplaying anything? I’ll keep an eye on the comments in case anything stood out to you that wasn’t addressed… but certainly, I think we have an eventful offseason upon us.
