I don't think the Yzerplan is the same today as I thought it would be 2-5 yrs ago. I thought the picks we were hoarding were going to be used for guys that would get a chance in the NHL. Instead, the plan seems to be to not use them and to sign FA's instead. Not sure that's much of a plan.

tl;dr = no

The FA signings and the plan would still feel somewhat alive if they did feel the need to sign Chariot or Holl, that is going to weigh down the defense for a while. Like Chariot was killing Seiders season last year, before Walman emerged which is a nice surprise. I should also mention I believe Raymond will bounce back big, but man, that is not enough anymore.

Agreed. Did you know we have 3 players on our roster that are <24yo? Seider, Raymond, Veleno. And Veleno turns 24 in January. That's not a "rebuilding" roster.

Really? That's actually horrible. I can understand that Cat and Larkin even at their age for the foreseeable future, but the rest? Nah. Play the youth, take risks, it's how teams become better.

If two players (granted, two bad players) dictate your opinion on a team's build; then you must not know that teams typically roster 23 players.

Not to say I am not disappointed in that we're not giving our youth a chance. But to that point, Holl wouldn't be impeding/blocking any player from making the roster considering the best RD prospect we have was just drafted. Chiarot, though, he is a much bigger problem.

Edvinsson is really the only big "why is he not on the team yet?" considering he was either the best LD we had during the pre-season, but I expect to see both Maatta and Gostisbehere get traded out. Berggren was inconsistent this pre-season, and would probably end up as our 13 forward.

It's not just them. You bought high on one good year on Compher. Same with Husso, which has worked out might I add. You traded for a washed Jeff Petry to back log your defense even further. Signing two goalies of the same caliber with Lyon and Reimer. You back log the center and wing positions for veterans that out right should not be on a team building a future. I guess a term to be used is over signing players. I am not a redwings expert, but with the moves made just feel like moves for mediocrity and no-man's land.

Petry is a RD, he is not blocking anyone and is a significant upgrade from Lindstrom. Compher is a bit of a question mark, but I presume he'll be 2C until Kasper or Danielson is ready, and he'll get shifted onto the wing. Same with Copp. I am not a fan of the Reimer signing, and I prefer Lyon, but these are near league min contracts on a team that had a lot of capspace.

He's drafted very well, and although our younger players are getting a bit stiffed out; its not like they'll always be shoved aside for a replacement player. We're fine.

You've convinced me a bit, nothing ever goes as planned, but at some point, his planned should be questioned, and I believe we are at that point. If they make it deep into the wildcard race, then I believe this debate can be voided.

This is the classic misinformed weak take on the current state of the Wings and their roster. It's really quite simple and what Yzerman is doing is not difficult to understand.

The current core is Larkin, Raymond, Seider, Cat and Ras, with Walman possibly sprinkled in there. Waiting in the wings (pun intended) is a very young core of Edvinsson, Wallinder, Kasper, Danielson, Berg, Soder, Pelikka, Johansson, Mazur and whoever we draft in the next 2-3 years. That's 13 players that are slated and expected to be in Wings jerseys in the coming 2-4 years.

Those contracts that Steve signed will have expired or be immaterial when the kids are ready to join the rest of the core.

Chiarot is expiring, Holl is NOT a pylon and will be expiring. Copp and Compher are quality NHLers and will also be expiring or be on very friendly deals compared to % of cap, which will continue to go up. Petry is making pennies and still a quality player. Ghost was a great signing. What's the issue?

Nobody is expecting this team to make the playoffs or be truly contending at the moment, but they will sure as hell be the most competitive team we have seen in about 12 years.

Yzerman was left with absolutely nothing when he came in. This doesn't happen overnight.

Iv always thought of Detroit as just being unlucky. The years they really tanked were weak draft years and they had the added luck of not moving up in the draft lottery, at all, ever. Raymond and Seider are great pieces but still missed out on franchise players and are likely doomed to be a mid tier Atlantic team for the foreseeable future

I'm not saying that the Yzerplan cannot be questioned; it's an unconventional method to bring a once-dumpster team to success. There have been headscratchers and contracts that I did not like, but at the end of it the Yzerplan is trying to have it's cake and eat it too; not be cruddy, and get good prospects. Thus far, it's worked out pretty well. As said, I am peeved that Edvinsson isn't rostered, but I can sorta see why he signed Gostisbehere (who is technically the guy blocking him since we signed him in the off-season) considering that Edvinsson had surgery a month or so prior to the signing and was expected to be out until November.

Sure. With that all said, I'd just love to see Detroit in contention again, that city deserves it and would only benefit the league.

True. I just think there's a lot of people who mix up playoff team and cup contender. I'd happily sacrifice a few more years of mediocrity if that meant our team would be cup contenders.

There's no guarantee that any of this is successful, but if the the prospects develop as expected and the Wings put out a roster mostly made up of:
Larkin
Kasper
Danielson
Cat
Raymond
Ras
Berg
Soder
Seider
Walman
Ed
Wallinder
Pelikka

That's going to be a really talented team.

This is a prime take on the situation. Yzerman has been in place for 4 years. He not only had to finish expunging the horrible contracts KH doled out but also had to rebuild the entirety of the Wings prospect pipeline and try and keep the team from becoming a competitive black hole for years to come. I mean, that's his history with the Wings; 50 years of ineptitude before he was drafted.

So yeah we can nitpik on the margins for a few of these contracts (why Holl? because the Petry trade hadn't happened) and yes Chiarot (though coaches seem to love the dude). But last year's team showed how little depth they had when injuries happened. That's not the case this season.

Why Petry? Because he is infinitely better than Lindstrom.

I don't disagree. My point was, do you sign Holl if you knew Petry was coming your way? My answer to that is no.

As a Leaf fan, I was totally surprised at that Holl contract. He's been skating slower in the past two years, and has had longer periods of ineffectiveness.
Wish Holl the best, seems like a good teammate.......but to me that's waste of cap.

Detroit was pretty thin on the right side after trading Hronek so Holl seemed like an ok short-term fix and there weren't a lot of options in FA. I would have preferred a 2-year deal rather than 3.

Ownership might be pressuring Yzerman to make the playoffs since they hate waiting. So I guess they signed these players