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I'd define the current window we are in as: The Larkin's First Contract Window (4 years remaining) After this 4 year window Larkin will become UFA and will likely command somewhere between $9 and $12 million by today's cap. That will change the landscape of this team a bit, and If we aren't already there I think we should be clearly transitioning into a win now mode by that point. So basically I think the absolute max on this Yzerman rebuild should be the next 4 seasons. Year 1 (2019-20 season) Primary goal: Sign Mantha, AA, and Bertuzzi to favorable extensions I'd like to see something like 3-5 year extensions for each. Locking them in for the prime years of their careers. If there are performance/negotiation issues this season maybe a 1 year prove-it/bridge extension, maintaining RFA control after the contract is up. Secondary goal: Sell UFA's for extra picks. This is secondary because it will be based on the performance of the team this year, and who knows, maybe we flirt with the playoffs. Also the two primary pieces are Howard and Green. Both vets who seem to want to be here long term so I'm not opposed to re-signing them to shorter cheaper deals as well. Year 2 (2020-21 season) Primary goal: Remain lean I think we should remain patient and have a similar offseason to this one. AKA make some good draft picks, sign maybe a stop-gap or two if needed, and shed contracts (Ericsson and Daley primarily). The Seattle expansion is looming and if we remain lean we won't be forced to lose much of anything of value. Secondary goal: Sell UFA's for extra picks We have Helm, Filppula, Nemeth, and Bernier leaving the roster at the end of this season. We may not get anything of value for them at the TDL, so it may just be worth it to ride out the season with them. Hence a secondary goal. Year 3 (2021-22 season) Primary goal: Acceleration Yzerman now has 3 drafts under his belt and the team should look drastically different at this point. The only contracts remaining from the Holland era at this point are Larkin, Abdelkader, Nielsen, and Dekeyser, with the last 2 about to expire. The expansion draft should be in the rearview and so I think now is the right time to put the peddle down and chase big names in FA or trade. Even if we are not a top contender it would be good to start at least making the playoffs to get the kids some post season experience. Year 4 (2022-23 season) Primary goal: Same as year 3 We should be focused on signing Larkin to a franchise record contract extension and adding to a young roster where hopefully other elite players like Zadina and Seider etc have emerged to lead the team. After this season Abby's big contract will be off the books which in my mind will finally put to bed the Holland era and a new window of Red Wings hockey should open. Next Window: Larkin's Second Contract AKA the return to cup contention.

Free basically. Pick 70 next year and pick 50 in 2 years. We could have had him.

https://lastwordonhockey.com/2019/07/23/detroit-red-wings-prospects-2/

Overall I give the offseason a C so far I think it's important first to distinguish what our off-season goals were. IMO that was sticking to the plan that Holland started: 1. Continue the rebuild/retool 2. Maintain depth and don't rush the kids 3. Begin putting Yzerman's stamp on the franchise If the goal was to become competitive and accelerate the rebuild then I think this offseason is clearly an F. However, based on Yzerman's moves and comments, I think that was clearly not the goal. FREE AGENTS: B - In: Filppula, Nemeth, Pickard, Kaski, Out: Vanek, Kronwall, Frk, Witkowski, Megan, Sulak, A. Holmstrom, J. Chelios, Sadowy, Sateri, Rybar, Fippula should be a slight upgrade over Vanek. His position at 2C will also allow AA to return to the wing where he is better suited. Nemeth is likely the replacement for Kronwall. He won't produce as many points as Kronwall, but he may very well be an upgrade defensively as Kronwall's old broken knees were slowing him way down. Pickard will replace Sateri and Rybar, and should provide a veteran presence in GR for our possible future starter in Larsson. Kaski is a wild card. He could simply be Sulak's replacement, or he could excel and make the team. The departure and lack of replacement for Frk, Witkowski, Megan, Holmstrom, Chelios, and Sadowy, should give more kids the opportunity to assume bigger roles, whether that's as depth players in Detroit or core players in GR. I do think we low-key added by subtraction a little here. With our goals in mind, these tweaks to the roster are not amazing, but got the job done. For that reason I give free agency a B - STAFF: B - In: Verbeek, C. Yzerman, Flemming Out: Ferschweiler, Wright, Finley, Merkosky, Henderson, Dickson Ferschweiler came to us as an assistant coach with Blashill. As a Blash-boy his departure might be a sign that Blash is going to be on the hot-seat for the next two years? Yzerman has not replaced Ferschweiler. Chris Yzerman will likely be head of pro scouting under director Mark Howe. Replacing pro scouts Merkosky and Henderson (who IMO have done a terrible job the last few years) As of now, it seems like Verbeek, Draper, and Stevie himself will take over Wright's duties as director of amateur scouting. So far I do not believe anyone has been named director of amateur scouting. Though I've seen it rumored that that position may be Draper's. So far the only replacement for amateur scouts Finley and Dickson have been Brendan Flemming, who comes to us as a now former assistant coach at Harvard University. I am very pleased that Yzerman has brought in and installed his two right hand men in Verbeek and his brother Chris. I'm also glad to see a few of our older scouts, who've been here a longggg time, move on. Our pro scouting has been terrible lately and even some drafts like the 2017 draft were suspiciously awful. I believe our now former amateur scout Jeff Finley is quoted as saying something like he first looks for "big" players, and then if they have some skills he's all in on them. Glad we are purging these kind of guys. I like what tweeks Yzerman has done with the staff, but he's hasn't made any real big splashes or shrewd moves, done much of anything with our coaching, and hasn't replaced a lot of scouts yet. For these reasons I give a B - DRAFT: ? With this it's too soon to tell. I'm a huge fan of Seider, but I don't think we can grade a draft till years after its passed. PERSONAL EXPECTATIONS: D + This will be the obviously most subjective part of my grade. This offseason has been BORING. I recognize that Yzerman stuck to the plan and asked the fans to be patient, but I'm still disappointed by the lack of moves and creativity so far. I would like to have seen some trades like casting off some bad contracts, or acquiring picks, or anything really. But a lot of this season feels like exactly like what Holland would have done. He's stood amazingly pat so far. I'm hoping when his front office is settled he'll begin to address other things more aggressively. But for right now I'm giving a D +

Rags get top pair RHD (Trouba) Devs get top pair RHD (Subban) Rags get top 2 pick (Kakko) Devs get top 2 pick (Hughes) Rags get star Russian winger (Panarin) Devs get star Russian winger (Gusev) It's basically a nuclear arms race in the New York bay right now. Sure seems like Yzerman is 100% committed to the tank for now. Not adding the Gusevs of the world and keeping the Ericssons around will ensure that happens for the time being.

Yup. Really underwhelming return for Vegas. Wish Yzerman could have snagged him...

I'm not at all interested in making the team worse right now by sending off core players like Mantha, AA, and Bertuzzi for picks or prospects. If you're concerned about getting a good return for these players perhaps consider not trading them at all or giving them longer contracts? At age 29/30 is simply the point where I'd look around and decide if I'd want to move forward with them as vets or not regardless of what their contract looks like. If everything goes relatively well with these 3 players I'd be absolutely ok with moving into phase 2 (Larkin's 2nd contract) with them on the roster.

IDK if that needs to be ASAP, but depending on the situation I'd be ok trading any of them within the 4 year window for the right package. All three will be about 28 in 4 years. Ideally I'd like to hold each of those players till about 29/30. Then either commit to them as veteran leaders or ship them off. As I pointed out in my take on the next 4 years, I'd like to start accelerating this thing in year 3. I think it's probably necessary to have them, or a similar player in their place, on the roster if that's going to happen.

Yes, just small.

Kivenmaki has been centering Finland's 2nd line.

Yes, you are right. Major brain fart on my end.

Dude, those are the 2 best pro leagues. What he did last year was good.

Gender reassignment for Nick - erm - ‘Nicole’?

Whenever I'm traveling in Europe and someone tries to show me some dumb castle or something

New Jersey building something pretty exciting these past couple years. Would've liked to snag this guy. Ah well....