lol at the bolded part
Yzerman was either offensive star (early years) or defensive star (but significantly worse offensive player) later (Bowman). He was one of the most important Red Wings, obviously, but he does not deserve more credit (for the Cup wins) than Fedorov, Lidstrom or Shanahan. And Lidstrom then went to win another in 08. That means he was more important overall.
Yzerman scored 155 points in 1988-89. That's a number that only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have surpassed. He also received Selke votes, including a first place vote, that season. He was in the Selke voting other years in the 80s as well. It's only because of Fedorov's early 90s Selke/Hart and the fact the Wings went from a powerhouse offensive team to a defense-first championship team, and Bowman made a big deal about Yzerman having to be the leader with regard to that.
But back to my main point; Yzerman's play in the 80s was surpassed only by Gretzky and Lemieux. He took a Red Wings squad that was composed of AHL players and turned it into a team that would win division crowns. The only reason the Wings didn't get past the Conference Finals in any of those years is the fact that they played the Oilers in the CFs.
Lidstrom deserves a lot of credit...but Yzerman was a great defensive player in his early years as well. Not as great as he was later on, but the "Yzerman went from one-way player to defensive star" myth is ridiculous.
