Why Red Wings’ NHL Draft success should not save Steve Yzerman’s job

Steve Yzerman’s Detroit Red Wings have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs again. For the 10th consecutive season, there will be no postseason action in Hockeytown. Detroit lost to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday by a score of 5-3. And it condemned them to another lost season.

This time, things did not need to be this way. Last year, Detroit had to overcome one of the worst starts of the season. Falling behind as much as they did early on made things tough on them. Even with the coaching change, the Red Wings couldn’t climb out of that hole.

However, there was no such slow start this year. Outside of a loss in their opener against the Montreal Canadiens, the Red Wings were one of the best teams in the league for much of the first half. In fact, they were first in the East on January 25th. They traded for Justin Faulk at the NHL Trade Deadline to bolster a roster that entered the deadline third in the Atlantic.

Now, the team is left to wonder what’s next. Their collapse this season has once again brought up a conversation around Yzerman’s future. There are a lot of people around the hockey world doubting whether the former Red Wings captain is right for the job.

This time, the noise cannot be ignored. The Red Wings need to seriously consider changes at all levels of the organization. And that consideration has to start with Yzerman.

Steve Yzerman’s NHL Draft success is clear

One of the main refrains from Red Wings fans when it comes to defending Yzerman revolves around his work in the draft. The argument goes that the former general manager, Ken Holland, left Yzerman with the worst organization in the league. No top prospects, no true talent at the NHL level, and a very bleak future.

To be clear, this argument is largely true. The Red Wings had little to work with when Yzerman returned to the organization in April 2019. Just one glance at the roster from the 2020 offseason will tell you Detroit was in dire straits. Holland sold everything to extend the franchise’s incredible 25-year playoff streak, and the team needed to be built from the ground up.

Yzerman has done just that in the NHL Draft. Most of Detroit’s most exciting players have come from the draft. Lucas Raymond has hit 80 points in his career, and could do so again in 2025-26. Moritz Seider may be the best defensive defenseman in the league, and he is having a career-best offensive campaign to boot. Marco Kasper and Axel Sandin-Pellikka are high-potential young players who have cracked the NHL.

Yzerman’s success in the draft also extends beyond the first round. Former seventh-round pick Emmitt Finnie played a regular role in Detroit, and was one of its best forecheckers. His offensive production fell off after a hot start, but he still has 13 goals and 30 points in his rookie campaign.

The prospect pipeline is also full of promise. Red Wings prospect Max Plante just won the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey. Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine are two of the best goaltending prospects in the game. Others, such as Amadeus Lombardi, Eddie Genborg, and Anton Johansson, project to play NHL games.

Detroit’s farm system depth has been overhauled completely compared to where it was in 2019. Full credit goes to Yzerman for his work there. However, despite his amateur scouting acumen, the Red Wings general manager could undo all his work through his decisions at the pro level.

Red Wings’ pro scouting could undermine everything

The Red Wings have added star power through the draft. However, their pro scouting work has been largely abysmal. There are some major successes for Yzerman on this front. The Alex DeBrincat trade with the Ottawa Senators has proven to be a massive win for the organization, for instance.

However, successes like DeBrincat have been few and far between. In the early going, underperforming veterans could have been excused since the team was in the building phase. Now, though, there are expectations. And Detroit’s additions have not helped the young core around them.

Goaltender John Gibson is another success for Yzerman, as he has played to an elite level for most of the season. However, the team has had a revolving door in net for some time. Ville Husso, Alex Nedeljkovic, and even the brief return of Petr Mrazek. Detroit threw a lot at the dartboard before something hit.

Ahead of the goaltender, things are much rougher. Ben Chiarot has had a very up-and-down tenure with the Red Wings. Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson were buried in the minors this season. Holl was eventually traded in the Faulk deal, but the contract was poor from the jump. Travis Hamonic’s signing this past summer has also not worked out as Detroit hoped.

The worst part, however, may be the forward group. Detroit’s bottom-six is atrocious, with Michael Rasmussen and Mason Appleton providing little value. J.T. Compher has not lived up to his contract and was even relegated to the fourth line at times this year.

Yzerman has worked his magic in the NHL Draft. And he certainly deserves full credit for that. However, this cannot be why Detroit refuses to make a change in the front office. The young players cannot take this team to the next level all on their own. Yzerman’s pro scouting record indicates that he may not be the person who can best support the young stars with veteran talent.

To be clear, the Red Wings will likely never fire their general manager. He is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, spending his entire career wearing the Winged Wheel. He certainly has an argument for being the greatest Red Wings figure of all time. A straight firing is out of the question.

However, Yzerman has promising executives around him in the front office. At some point, the Red Wings will lose them, much like they lost Yzerman back in 2010. Detroit has to consider whether now is the time to make a move, considering both the pro scouting failures and the pressure on the team to finally take that next step.

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