Bud, we all had high hopes for Zadina. A good kid, a hard worker, but I’m going to lay it out. I watched probably every Red Wings game this year. I don’t think I missed many the past few years, being in Oregon and not having “blackout” issues. I watched him for a couple years now, and the guy has what I would call “frustration energy.” I don’t know what else to call it. I can’t even count how many times I saw that look on his face, his reactions, his very public expression of frustration…and throughout all that the Red Wings stuck with him.

I love yzerman’s quotes on the recent articles. He did not want to dump Zadina. Apparently he asked for a change of scenery. And apparently there are no takers. I’m sure Yzerman tried to do a package deal, to maximize value for the wings. I’m sure you could’ve got a draft pick for him, but it wouldn’t have been a very good one. That is on Zadina.

There is a chance he passes waivers. If that’s the case, he will go to camp, and compete against other players. I’m not betting on him at this point.

Yzerman wants players who want to be Red Wings. I have a lot of respect for how he’s managing to get players that want to be on the team. In a rare admission of frustration, Yzerman admitted he didn’t want to do this. Full props to the guy.
- NC_Scott

This one is a bit of a shame. Zadina worked hard and I felt like he was backchecking and giving his all. It’s hard to believe there were no takers but that seems to be the case. I hope he gets an opportunity to do something. I hope Vrana has a good year. I want the best for these kids, it just feels like almost every player selected pre Yzerman has been knocked out. Berggren made an opportunity he didn’t think he’d have work for him. Not hearing anything on Veleno as an RFA. Rasmussen put in the work and found a place. This off season has felt bizarre and I’m looking forward to Wednesday as the prospects hit the ice for some 3 on 3. I don’t feel a ton of positivity in the forum about where things landed and still hope there’s a move coming. We’ll see where things land.

50% but you were in the ballpark buddy
- optimus-reim

You’re wrong as usual. They can bury league minimum + 500k

You’re wrong as usual. They can bury league minimum + 500k
- Feds91Stammer

What do you expect from a HOBO?

You’re wrong as usual. They can bury league minimum + 500k
- Feds91Stammer

Wrong. League minimum + $375k.

not good. cant afford to have high end draft picks BUST out.
I know it wasn't on Yzerman's watch. He doesn't have forever to turn this team into a contender.
Team has a LONNGG way to go and it's already been 7 years of no playoffs.

They need a situation like what happened with Kucherov in TB. A player who turned into a star that was picked in the later in the 2nd/later in the draft. Wings havent had this happen yet. Not easy to do.

Wrong. League minimum + $375k.
- HockeyBuzzed

How do you keep track of your logins with so many accounts?

not good. cant afford to have high end draft picks BUST out.
I know it wasn't on Yzerman's watch. He doesn't have forever to turn this team into a contender.
Team has a LONNGG way to go and it's already been 7 years of no playoffs.

They need a situation like what happened with Kucherov in TB. A player who turned into a star that was picked in the later in the 2nd/later in the draft. Wings havent had this happen yet. Not easy to do.
- wingz4life

Yzerman was in charge of his development so he’s not exempt from all criticism

Zadina should never have gotten extended by Yzerman. I'd be happy to part ways with Veleno as well. They're both dead weight along with Erne. I'd like to get some top end talent as much as everyone else... but hopefully that could still happen. The best thing for both Veleno and Zadina is a new team IMO.

I do think Yzerman has at least improved the bottom six and added some size and toughness (which was lacking before) and probably added some offense hopefully... we'll see. Is it enough to get us in the playoffs ? Maybe, but we really need Kasper, Edvinsson, Mazur, and/or Soderblom take a big step forward this year and exceed expectations. Rasmussen needs to stay healthy and continue to trend upward with his game.

not good. cant afford to have high end draft picks BUST out.
I know it wasn't on Yzerman's watch. He doesn't have forever to turn this team into a contender.
Team has a LONNGG way to go and it's already been 7 years of no playoffs.

They need a situation like what happened with Kucherov in TB. A player who turned into a star that was picked in the later in the 2nd/later in the draft. Wings havent had this happen yet. Not easy to do.
- wingz4life

Valid assessment that his time may be a bit short. I don't think he's in danger of being booted by any means....but the fan-base is getting restless, and the fan-base pays the bills. Many of us muddled through the Dead Things era, were spoiled by 25 years of SCPO runs.....we're frustrated. The damage that was done was pretty deep so there's much to do to fix it.

Whilst Zadina wasn't drafted by The Captain, he's been under The Captain's tuteledge so (as pointed out), he does own some responsibility for Zadina. I really wanted him to do well, I said it earlier though; Zadina needs a change of scenery. Whatever damage done isn't getting better with the leadership in Detroit now. Would've been nice to have received some sort of return, but that shows how much his value's dropped.

Finding another Kucherov would be awesome, hell even someone 3/4 of Kucherov would ve nice. Maybe Mazur will pan out and take the NHL by storm.....kid's got some chops, may be a really good deep hit.

Valid assessment that his time may be a bit short. I don't think he's in danger of being booted by any means....but the fan-base is getting restless, and the fan-base pays the bills. Many of us muddled through the Dead Things era, were spoiled by 25 years of SCPO runs.....we're frustrated. The damage that was done was pretty deep so there's much to do to fix it.

Whilst Zadina wasn't drafted by The Captain, he's been under The Captain's tuteledge so (as pointed out), he does own some responsibility for Zadina. I really wanted him to do well, I said it earlier though; Zadina needs a change of scenery. Whatever damage done isn't getting better with the leadership in Detroit now. Would've been nice to have received some sort of return, but that shows how much his value's dropped.

Finding another Kucherov would be awesome, hell even someone 3/4 of Kucherov would ve nice. Maybe Mazur will pan out and take the NHL by storm.....kid's got some chops, may be a really good deep hit.
- mcmastermike1968

Best chance of a Kucherov at this time is Buchelnikov imo

Yzerman was in charge of his development so he’s not exempt from all criticism
- Feds91Stammer

What exactly is/was Yzerman suppose to do with Zadina to make him better if he deserves some criticism?

Was he suppose to force him to get on the ice during the off-season and shoot 1000 pucks per day?

The player needs to take that upon himself and many players do during the off-season. He was drafted as a shooter but his shot isn't good enough at the NHL level. That isn't Yzerman's fault. If Yzerman didn't believe in him, he wouldn't have given him that contract to prove and improve himself. At some point that is on the player. If he had not been given opportunities to succeed, then ok Yzerman would deserve some criticism but Zadina has had those and did nothing or missed chunks of the season with an injury.

Zadina, Pulkkinen and Frk are the reason i now would stay away from drafting a player that scouts rave about their shot. They better be a lot more than just a shot or i have no interest in that type of draft prospect anymore. For every Cole Caufield, there are a bunch of Zadinas, Pulkkinens and Frks that just can't adjust to make their shot useful in the NHL.

What exactly is/was Yzerman suppose to do with Zadina to make him better if he deserves some criticism?

Was he suppose to force him to get on the ice during the off-season and shoot 1000 pucks per day?

The player needs to take that upon himself and many players do during the off-season. He was drafted as a shooter but his shot isn't good enough at the NHL level. That isn't Yzerman's fault. If Yzerman didn't believe in him, he wouldn't have given him that contract to prove and improve himself. At some point that is on the player. If he had not been given opportunities to succeed, then ok Yzerman would deserve some criticism but Zadina has had those and did nothing or missed chunks of the season with an injury.

Zadina, Pulkkinen and Frk are the reason i now would stay away from drafting a player that scouts rave about their shot. They better be a lot more than just a shot or i have no interest in that type of draft prospect anymore. For every Cole Caufield, there are a bunch of Zadinas, Pulkkinens and Frks that just can't adjust to make their shot useful in the NHL.
- dcz28

More time in the AHL. Better coaches. A different director of player development. There are tons of things that could have been different. Saying Yzerman owns responsibility for Zadina doesn’t mean he shares the bulk of the blame.

What exactly is/was Yzerman suppose to do with Zadina to make him better if he deserves some criticism?

Was he suppose to force him to get on the ice during the off-season and shoot 1000 pucks per day?

The player needs to take that upon himself and many players do during the off-season. He was drafted as a shooter but his shot isn't good enough at the NHL level. That isn't Yzerman's fault. If Yzerman didn't believe in him, he wouldn't have given him that contract to prove and improve himself. At some point that is on the player. If he had not been given opportunities to succeed, then ok Yzerman would deserve some criticism but Zadina has had those and did nothing or missed chunks of the season with an injury.

Zadina, Pulkkinen and Frk are the reason i now would stay away from drafting a player that scouts rave about their shot. They better be a lot more than just a shot or i have no interest in that type of draft prospect anymore. For every Cole Caufield, there are a bunch of Zadinas, Pulkkinens and Frks that just can't adjust to make their shot useful in the NHL.
- dcz28

More time in the AHL. Better coaches. A different director of player development. There are tons of things that could have been different. Saying Yzerman owns responsibility for Zadina doesn’t mean he shares the bulk of the blame.

Valid assessment that his time may be a bit short. I don't think he's in danger of being booted by any means....but the fan-base is getting restless, and the fan-base pays the bills. Many of us muddled through the Dead Things era, were spoiled by 25 years of SCPO runs.....we're frustrated. The damage that was done was pretty deep so there's much to do to fix it.

Whilst Zadina wasn't drafted by The Captain, he's been under The Captain's tuteledge so (as pointed out), he does own some responsibility for Zadina. I really wanted him to do well, I said it earlier though; Zadina needs a change of scenery. Whatever damage done isn't getting better with the leadership in Detroit now. Would've been nice to have received some sort of return, but that shows how much his value's dropped.

Finding another Kucherov would be awesome, hell even someone 3/4 of Kucherov would ve nice. Maybe Mazur will pan out and take the NHL by storm.....kid's got some chops, may be a really good deep hit.
- mcmastermike1968

Even teams with many top 3 picks never get there, without those the timeline expends even more.
I don't think for a second rebuild started 7 years ago.
Kenny can't draft for poop.
So it's basically 4 years going onto 5.
And fans who are "frustrated" don't understand how long it takes to build a winning team.
Look at Colorado, they sucked for a decade.

Hard to believe this is the kid who said he’d make Montreal pay for passing on him at the draft by filling up their net…
- Karine Hains

Michkov is a cocky kid. Hard to believe he would ever say something like that.

Haha. This is too funny. I called Zadina a terrible pick on draft day. After his year 1 of development I was confident in calling him a total bust. Jeremy knows all the heat I've taken over this. I know Jeremy himself was still optimistic. What happened isn't that complicated...Yzerman tried to trade him. Nobody wants him at $1.8M x 2 years. At $800K, someone might take a gamble on him, but not at $1.8M. Waiving him is basically a win-win. Either we shed the contract, or it becomes clear to Zadina that it's not just 1 team, but all 32 teams aren't interested. Maybe that lights a fire and he blows the lights off in camp. Nothing to lose for Yzerman. As for the notion of couldn't we at least get a 6th or 7th round pick? Unlikely when similar players can be signed for half the cap hit. Besides, what would we do with another 7th round pick? Draft another one of Draper's kids? I noticed his son had 1 point last season...22 games, 1 point, great pick Drapes! I guess he had character. Who's next - does Maltby have any kids? Dan Cleary? We already tried Chelios' kid.

Colorado was bad but never went longer than 3 years without making the playoffs. Only teams that went longer such as Buffalo and Arizona have had terrible people running those programs. I might be wrong but name what organizations have gone 7 years without making playoffs.

I should clarify, I mean 7+ years in the cap era

This whole Zadina/draft/UFA thing has everyone upset. We want results....NOW. Therein lies the problem (for me, strictly speaking for me....); spoiled, demand immediate results. I've posted numerous times about being built for the long-haul, it takes time, etc.... I got my hopes up. As I read through Jeremy's numerous, analytical, SMART posts it seems he's trying to manage expectations but he seems baffled by some of the moves as well. We're frustrated.

It sucks that Zadina didn't "fill the net with pucks". I was on the fence about him, went both ways...I truly hope he catches on. I noted his work on becoming more defensive because we needed him to be, he's got some character to try to adapt to his skill set, he failed to live up to what The Captain expected of him, maybe demanded I dunno. I wish him well.

Compher, Lyon, draft picks......ok. Are we poised to win Lord Stanley's Holy Chalice? Right now; no. Are we poised to make some moves at the TDL? Maybe. Can we push for the SCPO? Probably. I allowed my frustration and spoiled brat attitude, wanting an Oompa Loompa NOW self to override looking at the long-haul cloud my judgement. I am a casual observer, never played or managed a team in the NHL. I want HockeyTown to reign supreme. It's going to take some time. "Let's stand back and see what the little dude does" (Crush talking to Nemo...I'm a Dad, sue me).

I'm making popcorn to eat as I watch The Wings. Win or lose; I love this (frank)ing team.

Happy Birthday Canada (belated, apologies). Happy Birthday, AMERICA!! Was an honor to serve you for 30yrs. Happy to be able to talk to you all in this forum that has a rockin' leader in Jeremy. Happy to ride this roller-coaster with you guys.

Now, off to watch my daughter compete in the North American Nationals for Irish Dance....the Wings can wait

Hate to say it... but i'm pretty certain neither Dumba or Tarasenko will be coming to Detroit. Too many suitors for those players and they may not want to come into a rebuild. I'd be shocked if Yzerman gets either of them. They probably would have signed by now.

I'm really curious to see what happens to DeBrincat... that should be interesting. If it's true they were asking for Detroit's 9th overall pick... then Yzerman was smart to walk away from that deal. No other teams in the NHL wants to pony up for the contract he wants. He's probably now going to to have to take a short term deal somewhere I'd guess.

Looks like he cleared, pretty surprised no one took a chance. Even Chicago you would think may as well give him a go.

Looks like he cleared, pretty surprised no one took a chance. Even Chicago you would think may as well give him a go.
- tmanv

Nobody wants him at 1.8 mil... Wondering if Yzerman will send him to GR or buy him out eventually.

Nobody wants him at 1.8 mil... Wondering if Yzerman will send him to GR or buy him out eventually.
- Vladdie_Kon1

Zadina would have to clear waiver again this fall to go to GR. He probably leaves and plays in Europe rather than go through waivers again. But then again, he in't gonna get $1.8 M there........

Nobody wants him at 1.8 mil... Wondering if Yzerman will send him to GR or buy him out eventually.
- Vladdie_Kon1

He will have to go through waivers again if he doesn’t make the team. I’m not counting him in.

Excited about Christian Fischer… I think the wings 4th line will be a shut down line, which will be fun to see again