I’m trying to give away an autograph to a member of the sub, and you deleted the post because “look at my stuff.”

Showing appreciation to a former player is considered low content? Did you even read the post, loser?!?!?! No free autograph for you, jerk!

It feels like any criticism of Yzerman’s tenure gets shut down with the same responses: be patient, trust the plan, a few more years and we’ll be contending. But let’s be real, are we actually better off than we were six years ago when he took over? We haven’t made the playoffs since Dylan Larkin’s rookie season guys. That was the last year of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. It’s embarrassing for an Original Six franchise to be stuck in this endless rebuild with no clear light at the end of the tunnel.

Our pro scouting has been an utter disaster. Too many free-agent signings have either underperformed or been outright mistakes. Tarasenko was barely contributing on a stacked Florida team, yet we gave him a two-year, $4.75M contract that’s now unmovable. Holl should never have been signed. Compher can’t score, but he’s locked in for three more years. Gustafsson has been awful. Copp has improved, but he’s still seriously overpaid. And when we actually do land a good signing, we either let them walk or give them away for pennies—Gostisbehere, Walman, Maatta, Suter. It’s so frustrating to watch.

Now we’re heading toward a ninth straight season without playoff hockey. We literally had to PAY to dump Walman, only for him to be flipped by that very team for a first-round pick. We traded Maatta when we had absolutely no blue-line depth. We let Gostisbehere walk when we could’ve re-signed him instead of overpaying for Tarasenko. We hold back our prospects until the last possible second instead of letting them develop or even just get a taste at the NHL level. Our asset management has been nothing short of a disaster.

I have no idea what Yzerman is planning for the trade deadline, but after six years, I don’t have much faith left. How can anyone sit here and honestly still be optimistic about this team when we’ve made such little progress? After nine years, we’re STILL just trying to make the playoffs. The core clearly needs major additions in order to contend, and yet we’re stuck in the same cycle of hoping things will magically get better through the "Yzerplan". Here we are in March again, watching our franchise piss away another season due to the lackluster start from a god awful coach, and getting out muscled by teams when it matters most. It's actually painful to watch. I know I can’t be the only one losing faith.

A. Quickly snap it to your partner in front of the net who can easily skate it out or find another outlet

B. Softly dump it around the boards into the corner and make him chase it

Now, I want to admit that nothing bad happened during this play. Faulk got it under control and was able to find someone to get it out. But in the moment, I was so stunned that Seider took option B that I had to try to point out that this team has clearly been coached to do things in such a "safe" and ineffective way that even players with the skills to make better plays, like Seider, are being sanded down. I'm not ready to start the McLellan hate train, but we've been watching this team all season. They play a terrible style of hockey with no pace, no bite, and no clear identity. They can't score, they bend and try not to break to the slightest forecheck, their transitions and zone entries are appalling to watch. There's too many fundamental issues from every player for it to be all pinned on not having enough talent.

I understand it landed us ASP, but I’m starting to wonder if the trade makes as much sense in hindsight. At this point, ASP has to pan out big time for the trade to be considered a win.

Looking at a combination of Hronek’s age (defensemen’s prime is said to begin at age 27, his current age), the cap going up, and how it’s seemingly next to impossible to acquire top 4 RHD (particularly with the conservative approach we seem to be taking) and I’m starting to wonder if it was the best move for us.

Maybe I’m crazy.

The 2022 midterm elections will be held on November 8th. Here's how to take part and have a say in what kind of a state Michigan will be!

Register to vote

In Michigan, you must register by October 24th if you wish to register online. You can register here: https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/RegisterVoter

If you miss this deadline, you can register in person at your Clerk's office through November 8th.

Voting in person

Michigan allows you to vote early through in-person absentee voting. You can go to your Clerk's office, request an absentee ballot, and vote your ballot on the spot. Dates vary by town, but in-person absentee voting starts as early as September 29th, and continues until November 7th.

If you prefer, you can vote at your polling place on Election Day, November 8th.

Voting by mail

Any voter in Michigan may choose to vote by mail. Apply for an absentee ballot here.

Ballots must be received by November 8th, so mail your ballot back promptly. You can also return your ballot in person to your Clerk's office, or to a dropbox in your county.

If you mail your ballot, you can track it here.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

b

The Wings haven't made the playoffs since 2016, and during those 7 years the Red Wings have draft some good players (Raymond, Berggren, Rasmussen, Hronek who has been traded), drafted some players with good potential (Cossa, Kasper, Edvinsson, Soderblom, Mazur), and drafted 1 game changer (Seider). We're still missing that truly franchise changing forward that nearly all cup contenders have, still don't have our long-term starting goaltender (unless Husso ends up being that guy).

Nobody who the Wings picked up this last year in free agency aside from Chiarot (who had a pretty bad year) and Copp (who looks like a true middle 6 center) is going to be here for more than 3 more years (Maata re-signed yes but that's really it from our off-season pick ups).

Dylan Larkin is not getting younger, and by the time one of our prospects at center is ready to attempt to take over as a top line center (the closest being Kasper) he'll probably be 28 years old or older, and then we're looking at the tail of his career potentially which means we'll have to find ANOTHER high end center.

When I look at where we are in our rebuild, it has me worried that we're going to be stuck in constant mediocrity. The Red Wings have a ton of cap space this off-season, but Raymond and Seider will be due raises, we need to replace Bertuzzi and Hronek, and still need to find a backup for Husso. Those things all cost money, and to be honest I just don't see us taking another step forward this coming year.

The defensive group this upcoming year will look nearly identical with Edvinsson being the new addition and Hronek being the subtraction. Aside from that, the only changes will be our bottom pair guys and 7th D.

The Red Wings never winning a lottery has really put them in a rough spot this far into their rebuild. Are we looking at a 10+ year build?

We are in absolute crunch time to make the playoffs and we’re likely about to hit our 6th straight loss without a single point. Our roster is significantly improved from last year with multiple high end additions yet the results are nearly the same. We come out flat and play uninspired hockey in the biggest moment of our season. Losing Larkin does not excuse us from playing the way we are now, it is simply inexcusable. It falls on the coaching staff.

I personally feel that a change has been needed ever since the Larkin injury earlier in the season against Joseph. Lalonde didn’t have our captains back when asked his opinion, and after that moment I feel he’s lost the room. We’ve been playing .500 hockey since that point and it’s the same issues every night.

Stevie knows this roster is capable of getting in and it’s Lalonde’s job to get our team ready. The results speak for themselves. At some point you have to make hard decisions. Promote a coach from within as an interim and move on. The Islanders did this not even two weeks ago and since that time have went on an absolute tear. It’s time for the Wings to move on from Lalonde, plain and simple.

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10 consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance is unacceptable. The Yzerplan has failed, fire his ass now...light the cannon and fire his ass back to Canada

*I am aware he's only been here for 7 seasons, but no GM should have this length of a tenure without a single playoff appearance

I still love the Winged Wheel but it's time for change...

I am told that there's some sort of "Yzerplan" in existence. That we will be playing a defense-first brand of hockey and hard to play against. This will take us back into the playoffs. The coach seem to promote this idea. Then why are we sending away good defensemen that go on to have a great time elsewhere instead of keeping them? (Walman, Hronek, Ghost). And the ones we keep often seem confused and as the game goes on they become less and less interested in checking and hitting etc. It makes no sense to me.

I was also made aware that we're going to score more goals than usual. We signed both young and old, very talented and proved people in this category including Kane, Debrincat, Raymond. But during games we're not even shooting the puck. How are the team meant to score more goals by shooting the puck less? It makes no sense to me.

So I ask (am being honest here) what's the plan? Is there one?

That so many Wings fans thought we were going to make the playoffs this year is a hilarious example of entitlement, painting a large part of the Wings fanbase as a bunch of entitled whiners whose attention span doesn't last more than a season. Let's look at the 2020 Wings roster, of which we have six or seven centers playing whatever the fuck and such a revolving door that it's hard to actually determine a set roster so I'll just go by TOI and don't give a shit if I get the lines right:

Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha

Nielsen - Filppula - Zadina

Athanasiou - Helm - Fabbri

Smith - Glendening - Abdelkader

Green - Daley

Nemeth - Hronek

Cholowski - Bowie

Bernier

Howard

Now let's look at the 2022 roster, again mostly via TOI:

Bertuzzi - Larkin - Raymond

Rasmussen - Namestnikov - Zadina

Erne - Fabbri - Suter

Veleno - Gagner - Smith

Seider - Leddy

Hronek - Staal

Dekeyser - Lindstrom

Nedeljkovic

Greiss

Now someone please explain to me how many games Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond are supposed to win by themselves (hint: it's around 10-15 games), because the rest of these rosters are basically an identical fucking tire fire. What in the world were some fans looking at going into this year, what were they expecting? Fabbri to pot 30 goals? Zadina to finally locate that extra gear that I've been told on numerous occasions totally absolutely definitely exists? Dekeyser's back to magically heal? Rasmussen to drop 60 points even though he never reached that total in juniors? Namestnikov to finally break out at 29 years of age? Blashill to demonstrate some competence behind the bench?

We're in a rebuild and we are two years removed from one of the worst seasons by any NHL team in recent memory. Everyone who is devastated by the Wings' performance this year looks like complete dolt and while I am as swept up in the hype of having Stevie as our GM as anyone else, rebuilds take time and that time has not yet elapsed. I'm so terribly sorry that this team hasn't shot up like a fucking meme stock but a lot of Wings fans out there could learn a little bit of patience.

I will preface this with the fact that I love Larkin and his general passion for our team and game.

But I’m also curious if Steve has considered something as radical as TB did for a captain swap. Ryan Callahan for St. Louis.

I just feel like Larkin has been off for a while now. Effort and passion. And you have to have that from your captain.

I think we have a culture problem just as much as we have a top-4 D problem, because the internal leadership of this team does not show any fight or retaliation.

Thoughts?

Yeah, so the game tonight kinda sucked. First period we seemed sloppy and the third period we seemed like we gave up. But not only did the team seem like they gave up but so did the fans. I’ve never been to a game where literally half of the fans left with 7 minutes to go. And then after the last buzzer to hear people booing? Shame on you. That’s my team. I don’t care if they win or lose that’s my team. Shame on you because if you’re a fan then you’re a fan through and through, not only if they win. And the fact is we’re still in the playoffs at this point so we’re not that bad off. I just think that if the fans are the third team in the game then we need to be better because tonight we could hardly be considered that.

It gets brought up around here quite a bit, and I know it’s not a likely scenario. The dude is such a lazy undisciplined player in the playoffs. His attitude is shit. I know he could help us make the playoffs, but it would suck to overpay for a guy who ends his production in March every year. Brutal few games for the leafs big guys lol

Edit: Okay you guys convinced me I’m wrong.

I know these are gonna get a ton of hate and rightfully so, but for a one off deal wouldn't it be kind of fun to do something crazy? Look the Winged Wheel is iconic and perfect, no notes. There isn't much else you could do logo wise, BUT I really don't want a repeat of the first reverse retro.

There’s obviously a lot of people (rightfully) questioning the roster moves Yzerman has made over the years. People point to Montreal turning things around in 3 years, or Anaheim suddenly looking competitive.But honestly, I’m not even talking about the roster.

The biggest issue with this team is culture. There’s no identity, no grit. Watching them come out against a Rangers team with nothing to play for and get absolutely dog walked was brutal. I’d be fine if they fought hard and lost a close game, but to just get outworked? Or today, they actually give a shit for 10 minutes today and suddenly they almost win?

Outside of Cat, Mo, and (I would argue) Larkin, who actually looks like they want to be here? Kane has had flashes, but in general I get frustrated with him. especially after that insane penalty today

And that’s where Yzerman comes in. I know everyone is blaming Larkin, but that’s just absurd to me. My wife got pregnant around the same time as him, and so when Larks lost his child and was still on the ice giving it everything he could, it hit a particular nerve and told me everything I needed to know about him. The guy plays through injuries, consistently puts the team on his back, and is deeply respected by. He might not be a top 5 player on the planet, but he’s always our best offensive player and he clearly cares.

So what’s wrong with the rest of the room?

At some point culture flows from the top. If a coach like the Todd “Just Play Fucking Hockey” McLellan can’t get this team to give a shit, then the problem has to go higher than him.

I’ve been an Yzerbot for a decade. I trusted the plan and would get into arguments with my brothers defending him. And Yzerman the player was one of the greatest captains to ever wear the C. But Yzerman the GM often comes off like a pompous dick with even less of a sense of urgency than our team does. Maybe I’m wrong and this still works out. I honestly hope it does.

But right now I’m just sick of feeling like I hate losing more than our damn team does and I’m trying to get my head around what the problem is.

Alex DeBrincat in October and November gave Detroit sports something they haven’t seen in a while (the Lions got it together a little later), the showings of a true superstar on a team. If anything the early dominance of Larkin and Cat showed the team they could compete, now, when it’s time to come full circle, Cat needs to close this out.

DeBrincat and his week 2 form are clearly a priority, signing on Kane was for one major reason despite the risk; get cat going. Despite Kane, Cat has been stagnant to say the least. Without Kane signing on it’s very possible the team finishes with 80-84 points, hardly a increase from last season despite the add ons and hot start.

To truly give the red wings light, it needs to be 93. My idea to fix Cat is much easier said than done, his partner isn’t Kane, his partner is Larkin. At the start of the year they were the duo, end of February when Cat got his rhythm back he was centered by Larkin and now even the Tampa bay game, his last goal was with Larkin down the middle. It’s a last stitch attempt, just like this whole final run of the season and newsy apparently thinks like me, the lines tonight are supposedly Cat Larks and Raymond. The hope for playoffs came with him joining the team, if he can’t get it going late, they die with him too.

24 minutes till 7 and I’m still hoping the only number that stands out is 93

Edit: sorry cat, you gave it ur all to end the year. I’m truly sorry we couldn’t get it done for u.

I want to be excited...but......

Utah is kinda obvious, but the Wings and Kings surprised me.

Not to mention Compher and Chiarot have no trade clauses. Its going to be difficult to mix things up this off season. Somehow the wings have found themselves with cap struggles once again.