Have a holly, jolly Christmas.
One person who might be second-guessing the choices made earlier this year is Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman.
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The former player-turned-GM has been lauded for his shrewd maneuvers while managing the Red Wings, but his approach this past summer could have done more harm than good.
The Red Wings traded away rising talent in favor of older players with mediocre-to-average results. They also signed older goaltenders instead of pushing their chips in on younger, available talent.
Red Wings Should Have Kept Acquiring Young Talent
The most puzzling move the Red Wings made during the summer was trading away the up-and-coming Jake Walman for a bag of magic beans. The 28-year-old was finding his step and signed a favorable contract for the deployment and minutes the Red Wings were getting out of him.
To replace him, they signed Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl. Many were confused by this approach because neither defender has been known for their defensive prowess. However, Gustafsson is an offensively gifted defender with a decent point production history.
Gustafsson and Holl have both played 26 games. The 32-year-olds recorded five and three points, respectively. They have averaged 16:42 (Gustafsson) and 15:18 (Holl) per game.
On the other hand, Walman has emerged as a stud defenseman for the San Jose Sharks. In 31 games, he has recorded 25 points while playing for nearly 23 minutes a night.
Talk about ouch.
Should Have Pushed Their Chips In On Askarov
Additionally, the approach with the goaltenders has been equally peculiar. While they haven’t given away any top goalie prospects for free, they signed 37-year-old Cam Talbot and 32-year-old Jack Campbell.
While Talbot has had an excellent rebound season (and should have been named to Team Canada for the Four Nations Faceoff),, he is recovering from injury and cannot play every game for the Red Wings.
Campbell has not played a single NHL game this year and only recently started playing AHL games again. He has a 1-2-0 record, a 2.37 goals against average (GAA), and a .912 save percentage (SV%).
A much better approach would have been to acquire Yaroslov Askarov. He has been phenomenal in the AHL, posting a 9-4-2 record, 2.00 GAA, and a .938 SV%.
Askarov has a 1-1-2 record in the NHL combined with a 2.75 GAA, .909 SV%. He only cost the Sharks two prospects and a first-round draft pick. With the stacked prospect cupboards that the Red Wings have, they could have easily paid the price required to trade for the young Russian netminder.
It doesn’t make much sense when looking at the moves. Yzerman operated like a team pushing their chips in for a playoff run instead of acquiring the best players available. Aside from Talbot, every other acquisition on the back end or in net has been a flop.
Because of this, most Red Wings fans are not having a holly, jolly Christmas.
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