They really need to fire Yzerman ...

And trade Raymond, right?

Calgary won't be wasting picks on yet another smaller left shot winger (especially not one who's an arbitration eligible RFA) or a relatively expensive older 3rd pairing defenseman.

Why? He has turned this team from a bottom feeder to one battling for the playoffs with one of the best prospect pools in less than 5 years.

I'm not so sure teams will be willing to help you out of cap hell.

Everyone knows Seider and Raymond are going to be expensive. You have no choice to move pieces out to accommodate their deal so you likely wont get fair value.

Nah bruh. Five years is plenty of time to become a contender from starting with your #2 player as Mantha and your top two prospects as Zadina and Veleno...

We actually kinda do have a choice.

Yeah, the other choice is keep them and be cap strapped while not being able to pay your big Rfa's... not exactly a great option

$28M in cap without moving anybody to pay our big RFAs.

... That was easy.

That's fine, you can wave goodbye to all your ufa's

100% your choice

Oh no! No Ghost ****ing up in his own end multiple times a night. What we gon do?!

Getting it out of the way now that yes I know they haven't had any lottery luck. That being said, he's very purposefully created a team that is Larkin, Raymond, Seider, and a whole bunch of expensive, veteran additions. Is that Larkin/Raymond/Seider core good enough to be the 1c/1w/1d on a playoff team, let alone a contender? Maybe. I would say Larkin and Raymond look like it, but Seider has taken worrying steps back since his rookie year.

As for a top 5 prospect pool -- given they have drafted in the top 10 since 2017 (!!!) I sure would hope they do. I would also point out that no one outside of Raymond and Seider from the 2019 and 2020 drafts look like they will be anything more than depth NHL guys, including all 6 (!!!) 2nd rounders. Edvindsson, Kasper, Danielson, and ASP all have no reasons to be super worried about right now, I wouldn't say any are on track to be real stars or look like they have outperformed their draft position.

Of his big vet adds, which have really been hits? Kane rather surprisingly was, DeBrincat was much more good than bad, and Perron has been good value for the money. Giving out almost 11m to Compher and Copp has been disastrous though, and while Walman and Maata have been completely fine every other D addition has been bad.

The fact of the matter is that even in the easiest playoff race in recent memory, this DET team -- that was almost entirely shaped by Yzerman -- came up short to an absolutely awful Washington team. At some point, this team has to start making actual strides

He very purposely created a team that is Larkin, Raymond, Seider, and a bunch of plugs while the rest of the kids develop lol.

Seider taking "worrying steps back"... They're not that worrying. He had the worst defensive assignments in the league this season and had his PP time hacked down due to the Ghost signing.

Worrying steps back? Nah. He just doesn't have any help. He also matched his point total without powerplay time. The team defense is really bad, he can't do everything. Also he just turned 23, he has alot of time to grow.
As for the drafting. Sorry he didn't hit on every single pick? In 2019, maybe 6 or 7 guys will be NHL regulars from the second round. 2020 probably about the same thing. I'm guessing he should have a crystal ball and know who are going to be hits.
You obviously know nothing of Edvinsson, Kasper, Danielson or ASP. Edvinsson was looking great at the end of the season, be will be on the team next year. Kasper is playing great in the BB AHL, slow start but that's too be expected when coming to North America. Just cause his points don't jump off the board, doesn't mean he isn't playing great. He has exceptional two way play and gives it all every shift. He is likely the best centre in that draft outside of Cooley and Wright. Danielson is another guy that is playing exceptional. Again, really good two way and is also a work horse. He's had a really decent season in the dub this year, especially after being traded. Most people figured he should have made the team this year with how well he played in preseason. ASP had a really good season in Europe and might possibly come over to North America next year. Nothing wrong with his development.
As for the free agent signings. How the **** do you expect them to ice a team if they don't sign free agents? Are some of the contracts great? Probably not, but when do UFA contracts ever look good. Chiarot was literally one of the best defensemen available in his free agent class, probably had to overpay a bit to get him. He also played quite good this year. Perron was a great add. Copp is a good add even though most people don't think so. He starts 2/3 in the defensive zone, hard to produce offense like that. He has been great as a defensive centre. Compher, same as Chiarot, best centre available in free agency. Petry wasn't great but we had a hole to fill and he filled it. He should be more of a depth player now instead of top four.
The fact of the matter is this team has made positive strides and people that understand how this works are fine with what he has done.

Concerns with Seider are over his play-driving. I 100% get that he plays insanely tough minutes but at a certain point to be a truly elite player instead of just a good one you have to win those minutes. Pretty funny you use points to back him up while discounting the point totals of top prospects, which by pretty much every analysis are much more indicative of a prospect's chance of success in the NHL than anything else. Danielson had a bad D+1 season, Kasper had an ok D+2, Edvindsson and ASP both had good but not incredible years as well. Do any of them project to be real top of the lineup guys rather than good secondary pieces? I think Edvindsson still does, but that's about it. The point about the 2nd rounders isn't that every NHL team finds all-stars there, but that there's been no "found money" from anything outside the first round by Yzerman so far. Not expected to hit on everything, but you have to hit on some, especially when you have so many 2nd rounders.

With the free agents, once again, nothing wrong with signing veterans. He has consistently chosen either the wrong vets, given them too much money, or both. Almost $11m for Copp and Compher isn't good enough. Chiarot and Petry have been unmitigated disasters, Holl got 3x3.5 and was scratched for a large part of the season. The entire D-corps minus Seider were veterans acquired by Yzerman and made a total of $20m this season, everyone besides Ghost is signed for next year too. Of that group, Ghost and Maata would be an ok 3rd pair on a contender, that's it. Husso 3x4.75 to be below .900 in both years in DET as well.

He could have easily gone bargain shopping in FA to fill out the roster, but purposefully chose to bring in a bunch of mid-market guys in an attempt to improve. Did that work? In a way, yes, they were playing meaningful hockey down the stretch for the first time in a while, and I won't discount that at all. Fact of the matter is it's been 5 years of Yzerman and they just choked away a playoff spot to maybe the worst team in the salary cap era to make the postseason. At some point, questions need to start being asked.