What is Steve Yzerman waiting for? Why is Jeff Blashill still employed?

[BHD]

Imagine being Blashill going to the rink everyday.

 

[Sadekuuro]

Like last year right

Yep, if there's a team they'll make sure not to screw over with the lottery it's obviously Detroit

 

[untouchable21]

Waiting for Maurice to be relieved of his duties in Winnipeg so he can pounce and lock him up long term,

 

[Connor McConnor]

I’m speaking from a complete outside POV.

What more could Wings fans expect this year? You ice one of the worst teams in the NHL. I’m confused what a coach is supposed to do with that?

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Who is going to fix that team?

 

[Jumptheshark]

Bad roster

 

[Koivu11]

I don’t think it really matters. Not even Scotty Bowman could do something with that roster.

 

[GreatSaveEssensa]

Imagine being Blashill going to the rink everyday.

He’s a head coach in the NHL. I think he’s just fine heading to one of the coolest jobs in the world every morning, getting paid well enough for it to boot.

 

[Top Shelf Wrister]

Imagine being Blashill going to the rink everyday.

Shades on, elbow sticking out the window with don henley friggin crankin’

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Rule #1 in the GMs playbook:

Save the good coach for when your rebuild is over, so you can use firing the bad coach as your built-in "reset button."

The ol' Guy Boucher maneuver.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

What’s the point in firing the coach? Everyone knew the Wings would be bad.

This is an incredibly dumb reason to keep a coach around

Our roster has improved this season with Stevies additions, it’s time to stop acting like he’s safe because our roster is so so bad

 

[Dotter]

Red Wings are playing exactly like what is expected of them.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Stevie wants more top picks, he’s not being half pregnant, it’s a rebuild

 

[Hostile Offer]

What's the point? The team sucks... A new coach now is redundant. Just start fresh after the draft

What's the point of even having a coach, right? The whole team is completely lifeless and dysfunctional and the coach is responsible for a big part of that. It's not a recipe for any future success to have your few young core pieces play and develop in an environment like that. Blashill lost his grip on this team like three years ago and he should've been fired a long time ago.

 

[613Leafer]

Changing coaches signals to the fanbase that the expectation is that Detroit contends for the playoffs. The roster doesn't align with that expectation, so doing so only acts to put the target on Yzerman's back. Also, given revenue issues during COVID, does Detroit really want to be paying Blashill to not coach for them, and then turn around and have to pay someone else?

If Yzerman thinks he can get THE guy he wants to be the long-term coach of the team, then it's probably worth pursuing. But I don't think there's any rush.

 

[Rexor]

Intentional tanking is a dubious idea, it creates a losing environment and will haunt the team even after it actually gets good on paper. Players are not machines but real human beings whose confidence is going to get hit by several seasons of sucking as a team, they're not getting the experience on how to actually win games and what it takes to win them, and one cannot expect them to easily switch to a win mode just because they get two or three top draft picks to play with.

Even from my selfish (Czech) perspective, whenever I see the Wings play I cannot help but notice how unsufficiently developed the likes of Zadina and Hronek are being there: instead of being mentored by good veteran team mates and keep learning all the fine aspects of the game that successful players need to know, they're sort of being thrown into the deep waters, having to play on a historically bad team so that their franchise can get another high draft pick. This is just sad. A brutal, technocratic way of doing things and it's going to negatively affect their young core down the road.

 

[archangel2]

The can become Oilers V 2.0 by sacking all the coaches they like but until the build a better roster they will continue to lose

 

[SantosHalper]

Red Wings are still rebuilding until 2022 and this season ain't even a full season, only 56 game regular season. Blashill's contract expires after this season, so there's zero point to fire anyone right now.

Yzerman could bring a new coach in after the season, Lane Lambert's name has been heard in the rumours. But Yzerman could even re-sign Blashill with 1-2 year deal, because Red Wings will still tank next year and we ain't going to reach playoffs in 2023. Yzerman could also wait and see for next few years if Cooper gets fired from Tampa. If Tampa has a bad year JBB could fire Cooper and bring his own guy(Groulx?) in to spice things up.

 

[Pavels Dog]

I'm confused by all the people saying stuff like "no one could do anything with that roster".

The Wings are scoring at a higher rate 5-on-5 than they are 5-on-4. The powerplay alone has already cost them several points, likely several wins.

No one is expecting the Wings to contend or to be a playoff team. But come on. What evidence is there to say Jeff Blashill and the rest of the Wings coaching staff aren't among the worst in the league? That means there is room for improvement by bringing in better coaching.

 

[KingJoffrey]

It would be stupid to bring a new guy before they can compete. Coaches have limited timelines within their teams. Long tenure coaches are rare cases.

They should tank for one more year after this and then they could push for playoff spot.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Imagine being Blashill going to the rink everyday.

Give me his paycheck and some rye and I'll coach that team.

 

[supsens]

The experiment needs to be over. He's clearly a great coach at the AHL level, but he's far too in over his head at the NHL level, even with the roster Detroit has.

I've yet to figure out why on Earth Blashill remains the head coach of this team, when his good buddy and former linemate Spuddy Gerard Gallant is out there still.

A different coach would be able to squeeze some more points out of the current roster, which still isn't playoff caliber, but on paper improved from last season's debacle.

He is waiting for the NHL to fix the lotto odds. They can't and wont make teams like the wings rebuild forever.
He will be the Hero back in Detroit it's a marketing dream.

 

[TheMule93]

i dont expect to win, but im genuinely worried that all of our players look worse than they did in years past. Larkin, Mantha, and Hronek in particular. Need a new voice in the locker room. Dont want Blashill anywhere close to Raymond/Seider/Berggren else they might be ruined too.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Rule #1 in the GMs playbook:

Save the good coach for when your rebuild is over, so you can use firing the bad coach as your built-in "reset button."

But if there is no good coaches left?

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

i dont expect to win, but im genuinely worried that all of our players look worse than they did in years past. Larkin, Mantha, and Hronek in particular. Need a new voice in the locker room. Dont want Blashill anywhere close to Raymond/Seider/Berggren else they might be ruined too.

I have supported Blash for a long time. He inherited a rough situation and people generally talk glowingly about his organizational skills, people skills and how he runs a practice from both the Wings and Team USA. He has former players that really talk him up, his best friend in the world is John Cooper. It just hasn't worked here, I think the guy might legitimately be Peter DeBoer for instance, I hope he gets a much better chance because I really did believe in him and I believe that a bunch of hockey people are not wrong.

But this ship is aground, we need to change what is happening here. I am not expecting to be good, we knew we were a bottom five team. But the regression of guys we are going to need to not be in a rebuild for 10 years is starting to show. We are not developing the guys we have to, we are not getting enough out of players that need to play well even while we lose. The PP is flat out embarrassing to have on a professional hockey team, there are just a lot of unacceptable things happening. People can say don't care, well I am sorry, I think it is time to change something up and slap this team a little. I know Yzerman is being patient, but we need a little more accountability here. This is the NHL, you need to try a little more than this and there needs to be accountability when you're failing like this. I wish Blash the best in the future, he is a good man and I believe a good coach, I wish it had turned out different.