Defiant Steve Yzerman addresses controversial comments by Detroit Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin
Steve Yzerman addressed controversial comments from within his own team during his end-of-season press conference on April 29.
Early on in the nearly hour-long presser, during which he sat side by side with coach Todd McLellan, Yzerman focused on what the Detroit Red Wings did at the March 7 trade deadline – or rather, that all they did was acquire a veteran goaltender and a veteran grinder. Both that night and on April 19, the day players cleaned out their lockers, captain Dylan Larkin was critical that the Wings did not gain any momentum from the trade deadline.
“I’ve addressed Dylan’s comments directly with Dylan, and I will not elaborate,” Yzerman said. “If Dylan wants to share what I had to say with him, he’s more than welcome.”
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Larkin, both hours after the trade deadline passed on March 7 and again on April 19, two days after the end of the season, pointed to how little the Wings did. The only move Yzerman made was to acquire 33-year-old goaltender Petr Mrazek, and veteran fourth-line forward Craig Smith, in a trade that sent Joe Veleno to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Larkin said earlier this month that, “We didn’t do anything and I felt the group – we didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline and guys were kind of down about it. It would be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well.”
To Yzerman’s point, acquiring such a player is costly, and the Wings are not a place in the rebuild where they can afford to make those kind of moves.
“I sit here today and I feel very comfortable − I can’t say I’m happy or I liked it, but I’m very comfortable with the fact we weren’t able to make a trade that involved our top prospects, or first-round picks − any of those highly valuable assets,” Yzerman said. “We were prepared to do that. We did trade a first-round draft pick recently, for Alex DeBrincat. I feel very good about that move, we got an excellent player on our team.
“We are prepared to use our draft picks. We are prepared to use our prospects. We’re prepared to use any player for that matter, in a trade that makes us better and helps us in our timeline to get better and ultimately be a team and compete for a Stanley Cup.”
Yzerman also pointed to other teams that didn’t do anything – and are playing right now.
“I would point out two teams. in Montreal and St. Louis, who at the trade deadline were sitting outside of a playoff spot,” Yzerman said. “Neither team did anything. They both ended up making the playoffs and are playing very well at this time, led by their best players.
At the deadline, we looked, we had hoped, as I said, to try and improve our team. There were no good options. I can’t break the confidence of the other general managers around the league and things that we talked about, but there was no deals to bring in anyone of any significance that we really felt would make a difference, not just to make the playoffs this year, but to make us a better team in the long run. And to get us ultimately to where we were going to go.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
Quick Hits: Men’s Worlds and Red Wings Trade Speculation
Hello, friends! A lot to talk about today. Let’s start by saying happy birthday to Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman, who turns 60 today.
The IIHF Men’s Worlds begin today. We’ve got five Red Wings players who will be participating:
Team Sweden: Lucas Raymond, Erik Gustafsson, Simon Edvinsson
Team Austria: Marco Kasper
Team Germany: Moritz Seider
The tournament starts with Austria vs Finland at about 10:20 AM ET. Sweden will play Slovakia at 2:20 PM ET. Team Germany won’t play until tomorrow – they’ll take on Hungary at 10:20 AM ET. You can watch on NHL Network, or TSN if you’re in Canada. Go team(s)!
Next, some rather unfortunate news that surfaced in recent days. It’s probably not “news” at this point, but needs to be mentioned. Beloved Detroit sports personality Trevor Thompson is out at FanDuel Sports Network. The news came not long after the announcement that Mickey York was being let go. Thompson had been on the Detroit sports RSN beat for 25 years, and was part of many memorable moments.. Such as the time he played keepaway with Pavel Datsyuk.
I’m pretty furious at this news. FanDuel Sports Network is totally unserious, so I can’t say I am surprised. Seemed like the writing was on the wall when John Keating announced his retirement earlier in the season. It would be really nice if the Ilitch family could make this right and bring Trev or Mickey (or both!) onto their payroll, much like Daniella Bruce, Jason Benetti, Mickey Redmond, and Ken Daniels. I’d also like to see the Ilitch family start planning for the next phase of Detroit sports broadcasting, which will almost certainly be without an RSN like FanDuel Sports Network in the future. Ilitch Sports Network. It’s right there. Just do it.
Over to the AHL, where the Grand Rapids Griffins are facing elimination from the Calder Cup Playoffs tonight in Texas. The Stars took both game one and two at Van Andel Arena. It hasn’t been pretty to say the least. It may take a miracle for the Griffins to win the next three games. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.
Meanwhile, the Toledo Walleye will going in the second round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs against Fort Wayne tomorrow night. The Walleye have been idle for some time after sweeping the first round. Hell of a team, could be poised for a deep run.
Finally, just want to mention a recent article from Sam Stockton at The Hockey News. Stockton took a look at three potential trade candidates for the Red Wings this offseason. The three players are Kyle Connor, Filiip Forsberg, and Mika Zibanejad. I’m not sure I see any of these scenarios happening.. Maybe Forsberg? Connor would be amazing, but I can’t see Winnipeg parting ways with him. He’s been one of the most underrated scorers in the NHL for quite some time. Not exactly the player you get rid of unless the return is SUBSTANTIAL. Zibanejad is old and a shell of the player he once was. Not interested. Forsberg, well maybe. Nashville could be desperate after farting all over the NHL this past season. A shakeup could be likely, but I’m not jumping out of my seat to mortgage up a bunch of assets just yet. I think the focus needs to be trimming the fat (getting rid of bad players) first before anything.
That’s all for now. Have a nice weekend, and an early Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there. Not sure how many read WIIM, but we’re thinkin’ of ya!
