Detroit Red Wings: What Kind of Architect is Steve Yzerman?

We all know Steve Yzerman as Detroit Red Wings player. But what kind of architect will he be rebuilding the Wings for future glory? Appraisals of his Tampa Bay Lightning years range from highly credible to sensational.

Over eight years he had five playoffs visits, with four Eastern Conference Finals and one Stanley Cup Final. No, Tampa never won the Cup, as Yzerman quickly reminds. Yet he built an elite contender while leaving behind a treasure trove of NHL prospects. So how did he do it? After apprenticing in the Detroit Red Wings front office, how did he grow into one of the best NHL general managers? Where might we discover clues of his trends and tendencies?

Let’s back up for a running start. When God Almighty created humankind, Genesis says, he did so in his own image. The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree. As humans, we also create in our image. Let’s parse out what that means for us these days with Yzerman as player become NHL executive.

Yzerman was competitive. Steve lit a fire on the ice by which the entire Detroit Red Wings team warmed themselves. Sergei Federov, for one, would have remained an underachiever without having to follow up Yzerman’s shifts on the ice. Our players measured their contributions by his sacrifices.

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Yzerman’s natural competitiveness bonded him to the Illitches, who made a Garden City mom and pop pizza parlor into a national powerhouse. Does anyone else recall Stevie’s iconic pass to Mike Knuble on his back after he was chopped down on a breakaway?

That is who he still is. So Adam Erne’s skills don’t differ from, say, Justin Abdelkader. Yzerman traded for Erne to bring hot embers to old ashes gone cold. What is the most consistent mantra we have heard so far from Yzerman? Everyone on the ice must expect to earn his job. Hopefully, that will apply to rookies and veterans.

Yzerman was hockey smart. We saw it in how Steve created instant offense where none existed. Remember his goal deflected off Patrick Roy’s back in the 2002 playoffs? He did that more than once. That is who Stevie was. He could read the ice in the twinkling of an instant.

But Yzerman’s smarts matured allying himself with Scotty Bowman. Today the ‘Detroit Red Wings’ way means expect to become a two-way forward if you expect to stick around. Jeff Blashill relentlessly talks this talk.

We measure players not by misleading gross yield, but by net production. That is, if they score buckets of goals, but give up buckets, then so what? It was intelligent to morph from the ill-fated regular season brilliant run-and-gun 1994-95 Detroit Red Wings into a team where Yzerman’s offensive numbers declined as the team’s fortunes soared.

Smart two-way hockey is today the NHL gold standard for team building. While still inexperienced, for an 18-year-old, Moritz Seider looks smart handling or distributing the puck; we might consider it a trend and clue to future drafts and trades.

Steve Yzerman was gifted. With Gretzky and Lemieux, he was an elite player of his era. NHL front offices lacking elite players speak rapturously about chemistry, intensity, and team concept as core characteristics. Make no mistake; they are all magnificent things. But they are never a substitute for talent. Any winning NHL organization must ever remain greedy for pure, unadulterated talent.

Of course, because Stevie was an elite player, that doesn’t mean he has an eye for talent. But his tenure in Tampa Bay attests to a knack for identifying and acquiring primo players. He compiled a roster with the likes of Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, Andrei Vasilevskiy, with only Vasilevskiy a first-round draft pick.

Tyler Johnson came in as an undrafted free agent. He traded for Ryan Callahan, J.T. Miller, and Ryan McDonagh. He hired Jon Cooper to coach. Also, knowing when to hold players or fold them in a salary cap world adds another degree of difficulty. We should be grateful to have him, and we are. Yes, Steve will make mistakes, but every general manager does.

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Still, in Yzerman, we trust. How will he roll as general manager? Answers are right in front of us.

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