Yzerman: This Red Wings Team ‘Can Take a Step’

Steve Yzerman, General Manager of the Detroit Red Wings
Photo via AOL

The Detroit Red Wings currently have $12.09 million in salary cap space after the team acquired goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks and acquired free agent left-winger James van Riemsdyk recently. According to general manager Steve Yzerman, the team will likely stand pat right now despite having this amount of cap space. The fact that most NHL teams have a glut of cap space means that players will earn more money, not to say that this is a bad thing.

Yzerman said that he feels this team can ‘take a step.’ His comments during a press conference today make it seem as though this next step will need to come from within the Red Wings’ locker room. That is not to say that Yzerman did not investigate whether free agents were willing to come to the Red Wings team.

Detroit was unable to add the superstar scorer it needed in free agency. This is because that type of player was just not available in this crop of free agents. That is not to say that the Red Wings did not improve with the addition of Gibson and van Riemsdyk. With that in mind, where will the improvements of the Red Wings’ roster come from?

“We were certainly open to it,” Yzerman said. “The guys that we were hoping to talk to signed before free agency with their club, or got traded in the case of Mitch Marner, we didn’t even get an opportunity to talk to these guys.” Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights for Nicolas Roy in a sign-and-trade deal.

Todd McLellan will go into this season preparing for his first full season as head coach of the Red Wings. The Red Wings played well for McLellan after former head coach Derek Lalonde was fired on December 26th, and had a record of 26-18-4 under McLellan in 2025. One young Red Wing that emerged when McLellan took over as head coach was defenseman Albert Johansson, who played in 61 games during his rookie season. Johansson, who was drafted 60th overall by the Red Wings in 2019, made his way to the second pair of the Red Wings’ defense. Johansson recently signed a two-year contract extension with the Red Wings.

That is not to say that Detroit is not trying to win in this “window.” The captain of the Red Wings, Dylan Larkin, is 28 years old and has played his entire career with the team. When asked about Larkin’s aging, Yzerman said, “Brad Marchand, at 37, just signed a six-year contract, so I got Dylan (Larkin) for another 15 years, I figure.” Yzerman and Larkin did not see eye to eye on the team standing pat at the previous trade deadline. Maybe these comments show that the “rift” between the two is in the past.

ITR 45: Everything Is Happening Inside The Rink

Join Chris and Conrad as they get you up-to-date on all the latest signings and trades heading into Free Agent Frenzy!
  1. ITR 45: Everything Is Happening
  2. ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again
  3. ITR 43: It's Winning Time
  4. ITR 42: Ripe For Repeat?
  5. ITR 41: Stanley Cup Final – The Rematch

Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

Tanner Jeannot of the Los Angeles Kings

Player Profile: Tanner Jeannot

Tanner Jeannot was born on May 29, 1997, in Estevan, Saskatchewan. The left-shooting forward played for three seasons with the Estevan Bruins from 2010-13. In his first two seasons with the U15 club, Jeannot scored 29 goals and collected 18 assists in 42 games and five goals and three assists in ten postseason games. Jeannot […]

Read More
Gage Goncalves of the Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning Make Significant Player Signings To Start July

As free agency has started in the National Hockey League, many teams, including the Tampa Bay Lightning, are making significant roster moves with free agents and player extensions. Just yesterday, July 1, for day one of free agency, the Lightning extended young 24-year-old Portuguese forward Gage Goncalves to a two-year contract worth $1.2 million a […]

Read More
William Moore 2025 Draft Profile

Breaking Down Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney’s Draft

Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney has been in his position for ten years now and has seen success with one Stanley Cup Finals appearance and one historic regular season. This past season was the first time since 2016 that the Bruins failed to make the playoffs. Sweeney has added pieces to the prior core […]

Read More