By: Chris Nosek

The Red Wings had another season where they ended just outside the playoff picture. They finished the season on a 6-2-2 run. They also finished 22nd in goals scored and 21st in goals against. Many fans are starting to question Steve Yzerman. He continues to try to bring the organization back to being a perennial contender. He has taken a long-term approach as he has been building through the draft. This hasn’t always gone as planned. The highest pick he’s had was Lucas Raymond at 4th overall in 2020.

Biggest Departure: Alex Lyon, signed with Buffalo as Free Agent

After winning a Stanley Cup backing up Sergei Bobrovski, Lyon signed a two-year contract with the Red Wings. Over those two seasons, he was their most consistent starter. He played in 74 games over those two seasons, starting 69 of them. Of those games, 35 were considered quality starts. Lyon often got little help from those in front of him. He was the most consistent name for their crease and brought some stability to that position.

Biggest Acquisition: John Gibson, acquired via trade from Anaheim Ducks

In recent seasons, many have been pointing to the goaltending. It is seen as an area that needs to improve for the Red Wings. While Gibson will help their goaltending, there are several other areas of the organization that need work as well. Unfortunately, the Red Wings didn’t add much else this off season. While Gibson is the biggest acquisition for Steve Yzerman this offseason, he’s not the only one they needed to make. Detroit fans are in for another long season regardless of the performance they get from Gibson.

Best Contract: Moritz Seider, signed on September 19, 2024 as Restricted Free Agent

Seider made the Red Wings roster when he was just a 20-year-old rookie in the 2020-21 season. Since making the roster, Seider hasn’t missed a single game for the Red Wings. He’s turned into a leader on their blue line, and in the locker room. He is consistently putting up over 40 points and is a solid shut-down defender. The fact that he plays a premium position, at such a high level, and is locked up for only $8.55 million against the salary cap extremely valuable. His contract might even prove to be one of the best values for a right-shot defenseman across the league.

Worst Contracts: J.T. Compher, signed on July 1, 2023 as Unrestricted Free Agent

At the time Compher was signed, it was clear that Yzerman wanted veteran players. He was looking for them to hold down the NHL roster for a few seasons. He wanted young players to have plenty of time to develop. He was in the process of drafting them. Now, some of those young players need a chance to make the NHL roster. Unfortunately, Compher is now starting to block some of those younger players from making the lineup.

He is entering the third season of his contract and he has two more after this year. This duration will make trading Compher difficult. His contract carries a $5.1 million cap hit each season. This wouldn’t be so bad if his production was a little higher. He’s only gone over the 33 point mark twice in his career. Once in his final season with the Avalanche, he scored 52 points. His first season in Detroit he scored 48. Otherwise, he hovers around 30 per season. This is simply not good enough. His contract value is significantly less than ideal and the options to move off of his contract are almost non-existent.

Notes:

Detroit fans are in for a few more seasons that are going to feel very long. Yzerman took a long-term, draft and develop approach for this rebuild. Unfortunately, he hasn’t caught any breaks. First off, his highest draft selection has been Lucas Raymond at 4th overall in 2020. Many of the players he selected early in his tenure have failed to pan out. Some of them failed due to their own shortcomings. Others had their development path disrupted because of cancellations in play for COVID.

Now, they have several young players who have started to form their new core. These players include Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Alex Debrincat, Michael Rasmussen, and Elmer Soderblom. Marco Kasper, Moritz Seider, Albert Johansson, Simon Edvinsson, and Jacob Bernard-Docker are also part of this group. All are under the age of 30. If fans can be just a bit more patient with Yzerman, they have an extremely bright future. Yzerman has already surpassed the time most General Managers would get for a rebuild. We’ll see how much longer he gets to finish the job he’s started.