{"id":654615,"date":"2026-05-20T15:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/654615\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T15:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:17:09","slug":"what-have-been-steve-yzermans-biggest-mistakes-red-wings-mailbag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/654615\/","title":{"rendered":"What have been Steve Yzerman\u2019s biggest mistakes? Red Wings mailbag"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a month since the Detroit Red Wings\u2019 season came to an unceremonious ending.<\/p>\n

And with another month to go before player movement picks up, fans have plenty of questions \u2014 reflecting on last season\u2019s collapse and looking ahead to what has to change next season.<\/p>\n

We tried to answer some of those questions in a May mailbag.<\/p>\n

(Note: Questions have been edited for clarity and length.)<\/p>\n

Was the Justin Faulk trade still worth it even though the Wings didn\u2019t make the playoffs? How badly does losing a first-round pick hurt the team? \u2014 Zac B.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a legitimate debate. On one hand, Faulk was tied with Lucas Raymond for fourth on the team in goals (five) and was sixth in points (eight) after the trade, so he did help the Red Wings. And they still have him for another season, in which I\u2019d expect him to play 20-plus minutes a game in all situations. That\u2019s all valuable, in my eyes.<\/p>\n

But the move was made to make the playoffs, and the Red Wings did not. Meanwhile, their first-rounder, which ended up landing 15th, belongs to St. Louis. That stings extra hard for a non-playoff team, although considering the pick was stunningly left unprotected, it could have been a lot worse!<\/p>\n

I still lean to the \u201cyes\u201d column, though. As much as the 15th overall pick should net a good prospect, I also don\u2019t think it will be anything the Red Wings don\u2019t already have. The players you\u2019d be looking at around that range include big-bodied scoring winger Oscar Hemming, undersized puck-moving RHD Ryan Lin and big, two-way center Oliver Suvanto. And Detroit already has prospects who fit those profiles.<\/p>\n

Maybe someone exciting slips on draft day, and I\u2019ll feel differently. However, as of now, I don\u2019t think the 15th pick is likely to be a massive difference-maker for their farm system. Meanwhile, Faulk makes a real, tangible impact right now.<\/p>\n

I also want to add that, while the question gives me hindsight in answering it, I still think you have to judge these things based on the information available at the time of the deal. On the morning of the trade deadline, the Red Wings had the fourth-most points in the Eastern Conference and seventh-most in the NHL. So it was reasonable to expect the pick would be more like the 23rd or 24th \u2014 or at least the 20th \u2014 when they traded it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also just imagining what the conversation would be if the Red Wings had stood pat at this deadline, only to collapse in March. In that scenario, I think all the criticism would have been about general manager Steve Yzerman sitting on his hands, hoarding picks and prospects, and not giving his group a real chance to survive the injuries that followed. And it would have been justified!<\/p>\n

So, to me, the Faulk trade was the right idea, though I readily acknowledge that the pick being in the top 15 hurts the value considerably.<\/p>\n

In your opinion, what have been Steve Yzerman\u2019s three biggest mistakes as GM over the last seven years? \u2014 Bruce E.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to exclude draft hindsight here, as every team can point to players it wishes it had picked in retrospect.<\/p>\n

One obvious one would be the Jake Walman saga, in which the Red Wings attached a second-round pick to move the defenseman to San Jose to clear cap space in the summer of 2024, only to see him traded to Edmonton for a first-round pick later that season.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure Walman\u2019s huge workload in San Jose helped solidify his value in the intervening time period, but it\u2019s hard to buy that the market went from negative value in the summer to first-round value at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t the only poor blue-line decision Detroit made that summer, as the Red Wings also let Shayne Gostisbehere walk in free agency. Detroit\u2019s left side was certainly getting crowded, with Albert Johansson needing a roster spot, Simon Edvinsson ready to become a regular and Olli M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 still under contract, and they were in a tough spot cap-wise, to be sure.<\/p>\n

However, the Red Wings let Gostisbehere leave for Carolina at a lower AAV than they were already paying him ($3.2 million, compared to $4.1 million), and for only $1.2 million more than the player they tried to replace him with, Erik Gustafsson, who spent most of this past season in Grand Rapids.<\/p>\n

Twisting the knife: Gostisbehere was quite comfortable on the right side, meaning the left-side jam didn\u2019t apply to him. And, to top it all off, the biggest addition Detroit made that offseason \u2014 the place they ostensibly spent the cap savings from Walman and Gostisbehere \u2014 was Vladimir Tarasenko, who they traded away for nothing after just one season of a clearly bad fit. And to top it off, they also traded M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 early in the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n

All of that ties into the big, overarching mistake, in my view: failing to replace Mark Howe with an official director of pro scouting when he retired in 2021. That issue was compounded by Pat Verbeek\u2019s 2022 departure to Anaheim, as Verbeek was also highly involved with pro scouting, meaning the Red Wings lost two top pro scouting voices in short succession.<\/p>\n

While we\u2019ll never know the exact machinations of Detroit\u2019s decision-making process regarding free agents and trades, it\u2019s hard to ignore the track record since then. It\u2019s not that Detroit has catastrophic contracts or hasn\u2019t added any useful players. Still, the mistakes have added up (Tarasenko and Justin Holl lead the list, but the redundant addition of J.T. Compher after signing Andrew Copp a year before has aged into a predictable issue) without nearly enough real \u201cwins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trading for Alex DeBrincat and John Gibson was a major success during that period. But beyond those two, the only real high-impact \u201cfind\u201d for more than a short-term deal was, ironically, Walman, whom they ended up losing a second-round pick to trade away.<\/p>\n

Do you believe our current core is good enough for Detroit to become a contender before Larkin is past his prime? If not, what should Yzerman do? \u2014 Super M.<\/p>\n

Assuming we define contender as being a top-six-to-eight team in the league, I\u2019m skeptical, especially for a sustained length of time.<\/p>\n

Part of that is because Larkin probably only has a few prime years left \u2014 you can argue it\u2019s less, if you mean \u201cpeak\u201d prime years \u2014 and Detroit doesn\u2019t have an obvious heir apparent at No. 1 center. There are good players on the team now, and more coming, but even good prospects need time to become true impact players. And time is not on the Red Wings\u2019 side.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tough spot to be in, and I won\u2019t pretend to have a magic answer as to how to handle it.<\/p>\n

However, the two real options are:<\/p>\n

1. Do everything they can to improve the core now, adding via trade and\/or free agency to try and get this team to contender status starting next year, while also banking on internal improvement from young players.<\/p>\n

2. Start aggressively looking for a long-term potential top-line successor at center, so that you\u2019re able to lengthen a potential window beyond Larkin\u2019s prime.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind, though, that Option 2 would likely mean trading at least one top player off the current roster, with no guarantee the player(s) they target will ever become a 1C.<\/p>\n

Neither option has any guarantee of success. And in a perfect world, obviously, you\u2019re trying to do some measure of both. But it\u2019s a rough spot to be in, especially in a market that has exhausted its patience.<\/p>\n

How likely is it that Bobby McCann is going to be wearing a Red Wings jersey next season? \u2014 Bruce F.<\/p>\n

This shallow free-agent market means players such as McMann will have many options on July 1. But I certainly think he\u2019s a strong candidate. He was on my offseason targets board<\/a> last month, and I singled him out<\/a> as a particularly good fit in a recent article.<\/p>\n

The reasons are simple. McMann is one of the fastest skaters in the NHL, with a top speed in the 99th percentile, according to NHL EDGE. He has size at 6 foot 2 and uses it, with 165 hits last season (more than all but two Red Wings). And, crucially, he can score, with 29 goals last season and 20 the year before that.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a long track record, mind you, as McMann wasn\u2019t a full-time NHLer until age 27. That leaves some uncertainty. However, his traits are exactly what the Red Wings need alongside Larkin and Raymond next season, which could help them slot their other forwards in much more naturally.<\/p>\n

Dallas has a tough cap situation this offseason. Do you think Mavrik Bourque could be dealt? Do you think he\u2019s what the Wings would be looking for, and is he good enough to fill that second-line center spot? \u2014 Nick M.<\/p>\n

I think teams find a way to hang on to their good young players, but considering the Stars also have to keep Jason Robertson, maybe Bourque becomes an exception. If so, he\u2019d be a good target, albeit not necessarily as a center. He\u2019s more often been on the wing in Dallas, but he\u2019s a 20-goal scorer at 24, and specifically scores the type of goals the Red Wings need more of, bringing hard offense around the net.<\/p>\n

Even with the cap crunch, he won\u2019t be cheap to acquire. However, he\u2019s a worthwhile target, for sure, and the positional versatility doesn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n

I know the Wings need help with their five-on-five scoring, but I am also interested in how they use their bottom six. Who are some players they could target that can play fast, physical and chip in some goals from time to time? \u2014 Paul Z.<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s Michael McCarron comes to mind, but I think the Red Wings\u2019 bottom-six answers for next season are already in the organization.<\/p>\n

Michael Brandsegg-Nyg\u00e5rd has been a physical force in the Calder Cup playoffs and has one of the best shots in the organization. He\u2019s ready for a third-line role next season. Carter Mazur will need to be on the roster for 2026-27 and would bring grit and some scoring potential to a fourth-line role. And if the Red Wings can find a top-line left wing, they can bump Emmitt Finnie down the lineup to bring his speed and tenacity to the third line. That\u2019s before considering Nate Danielson, too.<\/p>\n

So while there\u2019s room for a heavy, physical addition such as McCarron in the bottom six, for me, the priority still has to be at top-line left wing. The Red Wings\u2019 young forwards are ready to bring those other elements.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Patrick Kane will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. (Gregory Shamus \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Given the desire to be harder to play against, does Patrick Kane\u2019s overall five-on-five play warrant a roster spot? \u2014 Greg S.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fair question, as Kane isn\u2019t giving any big hits or winning a ton of puck battles in the corners, but the answer is yes.<\/p>\n

Just like not every heavy, hard-to-play against player is going to contribute significant offense, not every offensive player is going to be digging out pucks and punishing bodies. However, it\u2019s obviously preferable when they do.<\/p>\n

But the bottom line is that Kane, even at 37, is one of the Red Wings\u2019 top five-on-five producers. His line still tends to win its shifts. And for a team that struggles mightily at five-on-five, I think that\u2019s worth keeping, even at the expense of some individual heaviness and defense.<\/p>\n

If the Red Wings don\u2019t make significant changes, are they in danger of finishing in 7th or 8th place in the Atlantic Division? \u2014 Frank A.<\/p>\n

Yes. I mean, they finished sixth last year, and that was ahead of the two-time Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers, who are a strong bet to bounce back next season.<\/p>\n

Eighth would surprise me, as I\u2019m not ready to say the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to pass them. And I still don\u2019t see any reason the Red Wings can\u2019t catch the Boston Bruins, though I felt that way this season, too, and the Bruins finished ahead of them.<\/p>\n

Plus, there are always surprises. Will another team catch the injury bug, as the Panthers did this season? What does this offseason have in store for the division?<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m not picking them to finish bottom two in the division right now. As bad as the Red Wings\u2019 final six weeks were, they still were right there with Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa and Boston for the vast majority of the season, even if there were some warning signs under the hood.<\/p>\n

However, they still ended up with a sixth-place divisional finish this season, and if they don\u2019t make meaningful additions, yes, finishing in the bottom two is a very real possibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been a month since the Detroit Red Wings\u2019 season came to an unceremonious ending. And with another…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1786,385,99],"class_list":["post-654615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-detroit-red-wings","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}