News Article: The Detroit Red Wings' slow, painful 'Yzerplan' is finally starting to pay off (ESPN)

[Ricelund]

Article from Wyshynski published today. Not much new in it. I found these Holland quotes interesting:

"The media was really pushing for me to go into a rebuild mode, and my response was that to go into a rebuild mode and do it right, to come out the other side and be legit, was an eight- to 10-year process," Holland told me this week.

"When you're moving out established NHL players for draft picks, it looks great. But it takes a while. You're drafting 18-year-old kids, and you need multiple ones to hit. Now you've got the lottery, where you finish last and you might not win the lottery. You're trying to chart a course and go into rebuild mode. You think you're going to get back into that big-boy league in three or four years? Somebody is dreaming."

And so the Red Wings lurched ahead like a zombie clinging to the routine of the living, despite being in a state of decay.

They were still trying to win in 2016. They traded Datsyuk's cap space to the Arizona Coyotes after he left for the KHL. Holland signed Islanders center Frans Nielsen to a six-year, $31.5-million free-agent contract that mercifully ended in a buyout last August. He chased Steven Stamkos as a free agent, before Yzerman re-signed him in Tampa.

Horcoff knew it was too late to retool. "When I got the job here, the writing was on the wall. It was going to be time to go through something that the Red Wings organization hadn't gone through in 30 years," he said.

Holland admits he was trying to keep a punctured tire inflated.

"I was spending to the cap. We were playing older players. I was trying to make it 26 years in a row. I was still trying to win," he said.

Click to read more...

 

[Heaton]

So happy Holland is gone, so happy Yzerman is here. Great article.

 

[Henkka]

That's how it went.

Holland said also earlier, that he tries to win as long as it gets. When the wheels will drop off, then it's time to rebuild. He did drive those wheels off, as still living Mike Ilitch wanted to build. His death, and the change in organizational direction, happened "suddenly" in same moth.

At summer 2016 Holland was still trying to win and at March 2017 he was already a seller. And stayed on those selling ways until the GM change.

 

[Electric Eric]

Found this quote to be the most frustrating:

But Holland said the rebuild didn't officially begin until the 2018 trade deadline, when h traded winger Tomas Tatar.

 

[Henkka]

If the rebuild takes 8-10 years, should we be sellers for another 4-5 years, like we have been sellers for last 4-5 years?

 

[TheOtherOne]

I know most of you guys hate this but in my opinion Holland had the general idea completely correct. With the benefit of hindsight we weren't winners at the end but there was a small chance that we could have been. There was no point in jumping the gun when there was any chance left that we could win just one more Cup.

We already had one of the most successful stretches in sports history. Just one more Cup at the end would have made it absolutely legendary. Any number of players could have overperformed and put together a miracle run. You had to take that chance.

Our next Cup might come in 5 years or 30 years, but whatever happens, the fact that it may have been set back a few years at the end of the Holland era will be completely irrelevant.

 

[jkutswings]

If the rebuild takes 8-10 years, should we be sellers for another 4-5 years, like we have been sellers for last 4-5 years?

The timeline gets shorter once you have some Mo mentum. It can shrink to a Razor's edge with the right players. #Seider #Raymond

 

[JustJokinenAround]

looks to be better than the shanaplan

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

The timeline gets shorter once you have some Mo mentum. It can shrink to a Razor's edge with the right players. #Seider #Raymond

Oh ho ho! I see what you did there!

 

[jkutswings]

looks to be better than the shanaplan

Yeah, the success with that route is here today, gone Tavares. *rimshot*

 

[Konnan511]

The timeline gets shorter once you have some Mo mentum. It can shrink to a Razor's edge with the right players. #Seider #Raymond

Something something Edvinsson!

 

[DatsDeking]

Something something Edvinsson!

Come on, a good pun isn’t that hard to Endvinsson!

 

[Revenge of Gru]

I know most of you guys hate this but in my opinion Holland had the general idea completely correct. With the benefit of hindsight we weren't winners at the end but there was a small chance that we could have been. There was no point in jumping the gun when there was any chance left that we could win just one more Cup.

We already had one of the most successful stretches in sports history. Just one more Cup at the end would have made it absolutely legendary. Any number of players could have overperformed and put together a miracle run. You had to take that chance.

Our next Cup might come in 5 years or 30 years, but whatever happens, the fact that it may have been set back a few years at the end of the Holland era will be completely irrelevant.

Spot on. People are going to learn how delusional they've been on the timeline. As I have been saying. We're 7-10 years away with luck.

 

[jkutswings]

Come on, a good pun isn’t that hard to Endvinsson!

You didn't say Simon says.

 

[Tatar Shots]

If the rebuild takes 8-10 years, should we be sellers for another 4-5 years, like we have been sellers for last 4-5 years?

This is year 5 of the rebuild and I don’t think anyone is arguing that we’re done with it yet. 8-10 years is a realistic timeline

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

This is year 5 of the rebuild and I don’t think anyone is arguing that we’re done with it yet. 8-10 years is a realistic timeline

Seider and Raymond look like they are for sure pushing the timetable up by a few years. We shouldn't be ending a rebuild by the time these guys are 24 and 25. We should be entering our timeframe as contenders when they're at that age.

The "rebuild" should be done within 2-3 years because in my eyes the rebuild ends when we are a threat to get into the post season. We're looking like a bubble team through 8 games. I can imagine us being a regular playoff team by next season if we're able to keep Leddy, add Edvinsson, Berggren and Veleno full time.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

If Holland was still here Raymond and Seider would be in Europe (if he even drafts them) and we would still have Nielsen, Gator, and Bernier reupped.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

If Holland was still here Raymond and Seider would be in Europe (if he even drafts them) and we would still have Nielsen, Gator, and Bernier reupped.

We'd have Broberg, Perfetti and Hughes as our last 3 draft choices.

 

[FMichael]

We'd have Broberg, Perfetti and Hughes as our last 3 draft choices.

I was certain both Perfetti and Hughes were going to be drafted by Detroit.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I was certain both Perfetti and Hughes were going to be drafted by Detroit.

I dreaded that thought in 2020 and 2021. Did not want either with who was on the table. So far I feel much more satisfaction with Detroit's selections than those two.

 

[Revenge of Gru]

If Holland was still here Raymond and Seider would be in Europe (if he even drafts them) and we would still have Nielsen, Gator, and Bernier reupped.

Holland is gonna add to his pile of rings long before we get a sniff.

 

[Gniwder]

If the rebuild takes 8-10 years, should we be sellers for another 4-5 years, like we have been sellers for last 4-5 years?

That's not how it works, you sell the vets then typically you're done selling.

Look at the Pens, one big fire sale including Jagr. Same with the Caps, which included Jagr as well. Pens quit selling when they got Crosby, Caps when they got Ovechkin. Their rebuilds didn't end when they got their stars, just the selling ended.

At this point, Stevie's only selling parts he doesn't want to keep, so it's more or less hockey trades.

 

[Tatar Shots]

Seider and Raymond look like they are for sure pushing the timetable up by a few years. We shouldn't be ending a rebuild by the time these guys are 24 and 25. We should be entering our timeframe as contenders when they're at that age.

The "rebuild" should be done within 2-3 years because in my eyes the rebuild ends when we are a threat to get into the post season. We're looking like a bubble team through 8 games. I can imagine us being a regular playoff team by next season if we're able to keep Leddy, add Edvinsson, Berggren and Veleno full time.

I disagree that a rebuild ends when a team is a threat to make the post season. I’d say the Wings are that this year. A rebuild ends when a team is a legitimate cup contender. That’s what you’re building for, to win the cup.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Holland is gonna add to his pile of rings long before we get a sniff.

Must be nice to inherit two league MVPs in their prime.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

We'd have Broberg, Perfetti and Hughes as our last 3 draft choices.

He drafted Zadina...