Even a dummy like me can listen to the man and understand what he is saying, and he is saying exactly what you typed.That is a misleading headline. Yzerman is building a CHAMPIONSHIP team, not a playoff team. He speaks of sustainable excellence via skilled depth.
I am not big on the Yzerplan miracle plan contrived in some secret lab of his own devise. This team was, at best, 1st round playoff fodder last season. This year isn't much different. I still see them 2-3 years away. They have no star forward, very little in terms of the wing, need D depth and don't have a top 10 goalie on the roster or in the pipeline.
Once ready, he'll buy the parts he can't develop. I am OK with missing the playoffs by a point, getting into the lottery, having my dreams of lottery luck and moving on to next season... you know like the Lions hopeful in September, compared to December.
Barring crazy injury weirdness like last season I expect they will be competing hard for a wildcard spot this season. They might get in. Might not. If they do get in I expect they'll get smoked in round one and I would be ecstatic. 4 games of playoff hockey is exactly what these rookies and this team needs at this point.
I have learned that playoff hockey must be like sex - it doesn't matter how much someone explains it to you - you don't know anything about it until you're in there grinding. And once you DO know, you have to have more, because it's awesome, and you'll do a lot to get it.