DETROIT — Since Steve Yzerman became the general manager of the Red Wings six years ago, back in April 2019, seldom has he opened a press conference with a prepared statement.
But on Tuesday, conducting his end-of-season media availability, that’s exactly what he did. For five minutes, before a question had been asked, Yzerman addressed the scrutiny on his quiet trade deadline, declared his willingness to use draft picks, prospects and “any player” in a trade to make the Red Wings better, and then spoke to the fan base directly, saying he understood the “demand and the want for success here.”
Between that statement and the 47 minutes of questions that followed, here’s what his season-ending comments revealed, and what they say about the hugely important offseason ahead.
Larkin’s trade deadline comments
This was one of the most anticipated topics for the press conference, after Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said at his year-end press conference that the lack of trade deadline moves may have impacted players during the stretch run.
“It was hard that we didn’t do anything,” Larkin said. “And then I felt the group kind of — we didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline and guys were kind of down about it. It’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice, and maybe a morale boost as well.”
Yzerman, before being asked about the comments, offered up that he was “very comfortable” — albeit not necessarily happy, either — with not parting with top prospects or first-round picks at that time of year. He said they had hoped to try to improve the team then, but “there were no good options.”
He also noted that the team is “prepared” to use premium assets to get better, and referenced having done so in the 2023 Alex DeBrincat deal.
“We’re prepared to use our draft picks, we’re prepared to use our prospects, we’re prepared to use any player, for that matter, in a trade that makes us better and helps us in our timeline to get better,” he said, “and ultimately be a team that not only make the playoffs but compete for a Stanley Cup.”
And then he took it a step further.
“I would point out two teams, in Montreal and St. Louis, who at the trade deadline were sitting outside of a playoff spot. Neither team did anything,” Yzerman said. “They both ended up making the playoffs, and are playing very well at this time, led by their best players.”
Yzerman said soon after that Larkin’s comments were not what prompted him to go out of his way to discuss the deadline — “Not really, no, I mean it’s been talked about since the trade deadline,” he said — but that last line in particular, about Montreal and St. Louis making the playoffs “led by their best players,” certainly seemed pointed.
Larkin, of course, had a quiet March by his usual standards, with four goals and nine points in 14 games.
And when asked later about Larkin’s comments and the team’s morale, Yzerman added, “I’m counting on our best players, our leaders, to give us a bit of a morale boost. That’s what they’re paid for, and that’s the expectation from them.”
So while Yzerman claimed to have had Larkin in mind when including so much about the deadline in his opening remarks, it seems fair to say Larkin hit a nerve with his general manager.
Yzerman said he’s spoken to Larkin about his comments, but declined to elaborate on that conversation.
Dylan Larkin had a quiet March by his usual standards, with four goals and nine points in 14 games. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
A potentially aggressive offseason?
After his comments about being willing to use picks, prospects and players to make the team better, Yzerman was asked if the franchise was prepared to “go north of 10 or 11 million” for a player who could dramatically alter the team. His answer?
“Absolutely.”
There was more nuance, though.
“We’ve kind of felt that all along, we’re going to look at any good player — any player that can help us in any role — if there’s a player worthy of spending whatever amount on, that has an interest in playing in Detroit and fits a need for us, absolutely we would try to do that,” Yzerman said. “We’re in a different stage than we were maybe five years ago in that we have a good young nucleus of players. And if we can add to that with a prominent free agent, we’d certainly entertain that.”
The clearest insight Yzerman gave into what he’ll be looking for this offseason may have come in response to a question about his team’s struggles in March and how he wants to address them.
He started out talking about needing more depth on the team, which was heavily reliant on the power play for offense.
“We didn’t get enough offense from, say, our bottom-six group, but we also didn’t get enough five-on-five scoring from our top six,” Yzerman said. “So, how do we address that? Try to get better players. Try to make our players better. And demand that our players that are here, that are under contract, that we have high expectations for, they be better.”
Of course, everyone wants good players, and good players come in different varieties.
“This team in particular, I think I’d like us to be bigger — although, I shouldn’t say bigger, harder,” he said. “Because we are pretty big actually. And I think we can demand that out of our own players, but also bring in maybe a different mix.”
The 2025 unrestricted free agent crop is not loaded, but there are a handful of players at the top of the class that could apply to. The biggest name, by far, is Toronto’s Mitch Marner, a 100-point winger who plays on both special teams. Players of Marner’s caliber don’t reach free agency often (time will tell if Marner even makes it to market), and accordingly, he would cost north of $12 million. But he would be a bona fide impact player at the top of the lineup.
Beyond him, there is Florida’s Sam Bennett, a physical center whose career high is 51 points, but who consistently raises his production in the playoffs. Colorado’s Brock Nelson is likewise a proven playoff performer with more size than Detroit currently has up front. Another Panther, Brad Marchand, is a smaller body on the wing but plays with unquestioned edge and is still a productive player as he nears age 37. There are other notable names worth considering, too, such as Vancouver’s Brock Boeser and Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers.
And on defense, there is Los Angeles’ Vladislav Gavrikov, a 6-foot-3 left-shot who played for Red Wings coach Todd McLellan with the Kings, and who had arguably the best underlying defensive numbers in the NHL this season.
Yzerman also made clear he was “certainly open to trade, for sure” as a means of acquiring players. But for those hoping he will go the offer-sheet route, don’t get your hopes up.
Yzerman said he had “never really ever considered one (before), because usually you never get a player,” adding that you can end up “overpaying” that way. After St. Louis successfully pulled off two last year, landing Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, there is a notion that the approach could become more common. Yzerman noted, though, that with the salary cap going up, there may be fewer teams in vulnerable spots that make them susceptible to offer sheets.
“Is it something to consider? Yeah,” Yzerman said. “Do I see us doing it? Probably not.”
On the pro scouting department
One of the main criticisms of Yzerman’s tenure in Detroit thus far has come via the team’s approach in free agency, where some of the veterans the Red Wings have brought in on longer-term deals have struggled to live up to their contracts. Often, that has been placed at the feet of the pro scouting department, which over the past few years has lost key figures in Mark Howe and Pat Verbeek.
Yzerman called the team’s free agency “a bit of a mixed bag,” and noted that “a lot of our shorter-term signings have been very good.” And that’s true, as players such as David Perron, Olli Määttä and Shayne Gostisbehere made real impacts for the Red Wings before moving on. Yzerman even quipped, “Looking back, some of them I wouldn’t mind having here now.”
But that mixed bag also includes some big misses. Vladimir Tarasenko signed a two-year deal with a $4.75 million AAV last offseason and significantly underperformed. Defenseman Justin Holl signed a three-year deal at a $3.4 million AAV two summers ago and has struggled to live up to it. Detroit probably wants a bit more than it got from center J.T. Compher this past season, too.
As for the pro scouting department’s role in that, though, Yzerman defended his staff.
“We’ve got some new faces on it that have come in throughout the last two or three years, and I think very highly of these young men,” Yzerman said. “And they are kind of a team and they’re starting to understand — one, learn the league more — understand what we’re trying to do, understand the value of the dollar amount. So I think as a pro scouting staff, we’re becoming a better team.
We just simply have to walk away from some of these contracts, you know, like on July 1, you get into this whole bidding war, and it’s tough.”
Yzerman recognized he was talking simultaneously about being willing to go after the big fish in free agency and about being more diligent. That’s certainly a fine line to walk, and we’ll see how it plays out. But his final thought on the subject was more about the players than the scouts.
“With the free agents that we’ve signed, like ones that are currently on our team, I expect more out of them,” he said. “And it’s not just goals and assists. It’s all-around game.”
Coaching staff changes
The main news item to come out of the press conference surrounded Detroit’s coaching staff, with McLellan saying the team would move on from goaltending coach Alex Westlund and video coach L.J. Scarpace. Westlund joined the team in 2022, with Derek Lalonde, while Scarpace has been with Detroit since 2019.
“Those are significant roles, those are important people in our organization and those were really good people,” McLellan said. “I talked about our staff and how they fit in. It’s sometimes not a reflection on the job they do, but just something that we needed to do in the coaches’ room to stir things up. We need better goaltending, and that’s not just on Alex Westlund. That’s on the goaltenders, the head coach and everybody else that’s involved in it. And as far as the video goes, we’ll likely look at promoting from within. That hasn’t been confirmed yet, but we also want some growth within the organization when people are capable of accepting more. And as we move forward throughout the summer, we’ll fill those two spots.”
That would seem to indicate assistant coaches Alex Tanguay and Jay Varady — both holdovers from Lalonde’s staff — are expected back next season.
(Top photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)