Yzerman on the deadline, the new aquistions, his reputation, Blashill's future, the prospects etc

[MBH]

People are reading way too much into people trying to read Yzerman.

IMO, these press conferences are must-see stuff if you're a Wings fan.

You watch Yzerman enough, and you get a sense for how he answers questions.

I thought he definitely struck a different tone with the Blashill question.
His actual words expressed disappointment in the team's performance over the last six weeks. That's not something we've heard a lot of from Yzerman - not even during the carbomb season two years ago.
I believe his answer was revealing.

Personally, as someone who wants Blashill gone, his response gave me more hope that we'll see a change.

 

[Shaman464]

You are saying in 2 years Seider going to get paid more than Larkin? Never going to happened

Larkin isn’t Lidstrom, his pay isn’t going to set the bar. Larkin is a 1B/2 center on a contender according to most of the people who aren’t Wings fans. He’s not currently nor will he be the best player on the team. So in what world should he be the bar?

 

[The Red Line]

Yzerman is not waiting, he believes in Blashil

Obviously, otherwise he would have fired him already. Like with any coach in the NHL, that can change at any moment, especially if a better option becomes available, which was exactly my point.

 

[Shaman464]

The interview was pretty boilerplate, which is standard for Yzerman. He’s not one to put it all out there, no idea why anyone would expect different.

 

[lilidk]

Larkin isn’t Lidstrom, his pay isn’t going to set the bar. Larkin is a 1B/2 center on a contender according to most of the people who aren’t Wings fans. He’s not currently nor will he be the best player on the team. So in what world should he be the bar?

If they bring bring big name center or defenseman, yes, but Seider paid more than Larkin it's lit too much

 

[nbwingsfan]

Well this season I hope he's busier during free agency. He only made 3 deadline trades.

Three deals is more than most teams

 

[ShelbyZ]

People are reading way too much into people trying to read Yzerman.

IMO, these press conferences are must-see stuff if you're a Wings fan.

You watch Yzerman enough, and you get a sense for how he answers questions.

I thought he definitely struck a different tone with the Blashill question.
His actual words expressed disappointment in the team's performance over the last six weeks. That's not something we've heard a lot of from Yzerman - not even during the carbomb season two years ago.
I believe his answer was revealing.

Personally, as someone who wants Blashill gone, his response gave me more hope that we'll see a change.

I got the feeling Yzerman's tone on the Blashill question had more to do with annoyance at HSJ not following your 3rd line above and asking about Blashill in every media availability when by now she should know he's going to give the same answer he gave last time and the time before that and the time before that...

 

[ArGarBarGar]

If they bring bring big name center or defenseman, yes, but Seider paid more than Larkin it's lit too much

Why? Larkin isn't talented enough for his contract to be the maximum a player should be paid on this team. Not to mention paying a star defenseman less than 7 million in today's salary cap world is a great way to see them leave.

 

[Gniwder]

Three deals is more than most teams

About par for sellers this season, plus Leddy was the only real deal. Stech and Vlad were small deals.

Francis was a busy guy in Seattle.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

You are saying in 2 years Seider going to get paid more than Larkin? Never going to happened

If they opt to go max term? Uhh, yes.

 

[better Red than Dead]

Yeah, you’re reading into this too much.

Maybe, but I didn’t come away from his PC thinking there was much hope for a huge turnaround anytime soon.

 

[Ezekial]

This made me chuckle slightly.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

About par for sellers this season, plus Leddy was the only real deal. Stech and Vlad were small deals.

Francis was a busy guy in Seattle.

Seattle and Detroit are not even remotely in the same position lol.

Francis absolutely blew the expansion draft and the result is that even a team as bad as Detroit has a handful of guys that would be the best player on Seattle. Not to mention Seattle has one high end prospect. (To be expected for a first year franchise)

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

How many trades do you think they talked through that didn’t happen though?

Such as the rumor that they had a solid deal on the table for Matthew Barzal.

 

[Bench]

Such as the rumor that they had a solid deal on the table for Matthew Barzal.

When people say "My sports team isn't doing anything!" it's very much a case of pointing at an iceberg and commenting how insignificant it appears.

 

[MBH]

I got the feeling Yzerman's tone on the Blashill question had more to do with annoyance at HSJ not following your 3rd line above and asking about Blashill in every media availability when by now she should know he's going to give the same answer he gave last time and the time before that and the time before that...

Right
But he allowed that he was disappointed in the last six weeks.

 

[MBH]

People saying "he believes in Blash or he'd fire him right now" really don't seem to get Yzerman's path with this team.
In 2-3 other places during the interview, he expressed the importance of stability and not rocking the boat.
If Blash goes, it's after the season. Not with 6 weeks left.

 

[Reddwit]

People read way too much into the words of a person who has no incentive to tell anyone exactly what he is thinking.

That’s literally why people read into his words though…

 

[MBH]

When people say "My sports team isn't doing anything!" it's very much a case of pointing at an iceberg and commenting how insignificant it appears.

Proved by unsubstantiated rumors totally dismissed by people involved.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Larkin isn’t Lidstrom, his pay isn’t going to set the bar. Larkin is a 1B/2 center on a contender according to most of the people who aren’t Wings fans. He’s not currently nor will he be the best player on the team. So in what world should he be the bar?

I'd say that anyone that is still grouping Larkin as a 2C, such as yourself, should drop the charade.

He's producing better than or comparable the following 1Cs on playoff teams:

Comparable:
Sebastian Aho
Mika Zibanejad
Evgeny Kuznetsov (better if Backstrom)
Elias Lindholm

Better:
Brayden Point
Patrice Bergeron
Ryan O'Reilly
Anze Kopitar
Any C on the Golden Knights
Any C on the Wild

He's behind Mackinnon, McDavid, Duchene, Matthews, Barkov and Crosby.

This isn't to say his value is greater than or equal to everyone listed here, but he is unquestionably in the mix with the 1Cs of competitive teams. He isn't a lock top 10 center in the league, but he's closer to that than he is to being near 30 at this point.

 

[Bench]

Proved by unsubstantiated rumors totally dismissed by people involved.

Yes yes, critical thinking is dead and you're Socrates.

It doesn't matter if any specific rumor is true or not. What I said remains true. The reality of sports management is that the vast majority of the work isn't shown to the public. We only see the finished product. Which serves as a metric of comparison between franchises, but fails to address the context of dozens of decisions and outcomes. That's all. It's not remotely controversial or even that insightful.

 

[nbwingsfan]

About par for sellers this season, plus Leddy was the only real deal. Stech and Vlad were small deals.

Francis was a busy guy in Seattle.

He also had way more to deal. We can’t keep dealing all our good players for picks for forever. We’re supposed to be leaving a rebuild.

 

[Reddwit]

Anybody care to throw out their predictions for Larkin/Bertuzzi deals?

Larkin, I’d say the market is around 8 x $8.25M - $8.75M. I’d love to see him take a team friendly 8 x $7.5M, knowing that he’s sticking it out through the pain to be competitive and there will be massive paydays coming for the likes of Seider and Raymond.

Bert is a hard market to gauge because his production suggests one thing, but he’s such a rare commodity that it drives his value up. I wouldn’t mind seeing something like 5 x $8M. I put the AAV higher than Larkin due to the shorter term. I have a really hard time giving him term due to his back.
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Larkin shouldn’t be asked to take any kind of team friendly deal. We haven’t heard a peep from his camp about spending 6 straight years on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Anything under $9M AAV is reasonable and almost certainly less than he could get in UFA. I’d be pretty happy with 8.5M x 8 for Larkin.

Bert should really be capped at 7.5M x 6, and that’s still an ugly deal internally. He’s not worth a longer commitment or more money. I don’t think Bert being a ppg player is a fluke at all, but I don’t think he can drive his own line and while I think he can make a good center look great, he’s not good enough to make an OK center look good. That’s the difference between a $7M and $8M winger IMO.

 

[nbwingsfan]

You are saying in 2 years Seider going to get paid more than Larkin? Never going to happened

Assuming he continues his play in two years and stays a top 10D? Absolutely he will be. An average #1C shouldn’t be the bar you set salary wise. In a perfect world when we’re contending Larkin is only our 3rd of 4th best player

 

[nbwingsfan]

Larkin shouldn’t be asked to take any kind of team friendly deal. We haven’t heard a peep from his camp about spending 6 straight years on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Anything under $9M AAV is reasonable and almost certainly less than he could get in UFA. I’d be pretty happy with 8.5M x 8 for Larkin.

Bert should really be capped at 7.5M x 6, and that’s still an ugly deal internally. He’s not worth a longer commitment or more money. I don’t think Bert being a ppg player is a fluke at all, but I don’t think he can drive his own line and while I think he can make a good center look great, he’s not good enough to make an OK center look good. That’s the difference between a $7M and $8M winger IMO.

I actually have no problem paying him ~$8M but I wouldn’t want more than 4-5 years. His injury history is scary