Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman was an absolute madman on the opening day of the National Hockey League’s free agency period, bringing aboard several new faces as he continues to rework the squad back into contending status. Forwards Andrew Copp, David Perron, and Dominik Kubalik, as well as defensemen Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, are on their way to the Motor City; of course, this follows Yzerman’s deal with the St. Louis Blues in acquiring goaltender Ville Husso.
Yzerman met with media members in a virtual press conference format this afternoon, recapping his multiple moves yesterday that he believes addressed several needs for the Red Wings.
“With several expiring contracts, we had roster spots open and available and needs to be addressed,” he said. “We felt that we addressed positionally some needs; we simply needed to add players to fill out our roster, but also address some needs. An important need at center in Andrew Copp, a right-hand shot in David Perron, and a pleasant surprise in what we considered a scoring winger in Dominik Kubalik. Adding some defenseman that we think will help us on our special teams and in particular our penalty killing, and defensively 5 on 5. These are all areas that we talked about in the spring that we needed to improve, and with some of our contracts expiring with holes in our roster, we were in a position to bring aboard new faces, and these players addressed those needs.”
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“Ultimately, you need good players to win games, and you need good players to be good offensively and defensively. It comes down to that, and it’s up to the coaching staff to try and maximize the talent they have and find a way to get the most efficient in all areas with the players we have,” he continued. “For our coaching staff in order to try and improve these areas, we need better play from our team. Whether it’s our returning players maturing and getting more experienced and bringing in new faces that are more maybe adapted to those roles.”
“I expect our players to come into training camp with something to prove. There’s competition for ice time and jobs on the team, and I’m hoping the change in the coaching staff and the new players’ additions that all of our guys are coming in ready to go. It’s important to make a good impression because the coaching staff will be making decisions of who is in the lineup.
Steve Yzerman was extremely active in free agency
With Detroit’s many moves, you can’t blame fans for wondering when the Red Wings team will make a return to the postseason. Steve Yzerman, however, isn’t ready to put a timestamp on when his team can be expected to return to the annual tournament.
“With my approach, what I tried to do was address some areas and add some players that would improve the team,” he said. “Today, it’s July 14 and I think we’ve improved the team. But we have to go on the ice in September and play in October, I think we’ve addressed some needs and I’m hoping we’re a better team. We’re progressing slowly in this rebuild of the Red Wings. Are we good enough to make the playoffs? I don’t know, I’m hoping that we’ll score more goals and give up fewer goals…time will tell. I’m optimistic that we’re progressing, but the plan hasn’t changed and I’m sticking with what I intended to do with our younger guys, be patient with them and continue to build this way.”
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