Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings Faithful Pan Yzerplan

Detroit fanbase unimpressed by Yzerman July 1 moves

Published

10 months ago

July 2, 2023

Bob Duff

From the moment he became GM of the Detroit Red Wings in 2019, it was appearing that Steve Yzerman was bulletproof.

With each move he made in the rebuild of the franchise, the faithful were greeting the transaction with absolute certainty that it was the right thing to do. Stevie Y could do no wrong.

Trust in the Yzerplan was the mantra of the masses.

Has the bloom come off that rose?

I'm not sure if Detroit and Yzerman realize they won their Cups in the 90s and 2000s because they were a juggernaut with a ton of stars.

Can't get anywhere with just a bunch of guys.

The whole Red Wings rebuild feels incredibly underwhelming.

— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) July 2, 2023

Saturday, as the Red Wings began dipping their toes in the NHL UFA pool, it was impossible to drown out the noise from the Detroit fanbase as they began panning each move. Suddenly, they were also questioning Yzerman’s management acumen.

“Guys it’s looking like Yzerman is a bad GM,” posted someone billing themselves as Source on Twitter. “It pains my heart. I almost named my son after him in 2006.”

Many Detroit fans who in the past have walked in lockstep right alongside Yzerman on this journey were doing a harsh 180 in reaction to his latest personnel decisions.

“Steve Yzerman has confused me today,” pointed out Jay Hope.

Fans were especially puzzled by the additions of goalie James Reimer and defenseman Justin Holl.

“I’ve given up understanding anything Yzerman does at this point,” was the reaction of Wood 4 Hockeytown. “Just have to wait and see what the kids can do cause he clearly sucks at free agency lmao.”

Is The Bloom Off Rose Of Red Wings Yzerman?

That benefit of the doubt that Red Wings fans were willing to blindly surrender to Yzerman’s hockey machinations? It would appear that ship has set sail.

“The so called genius, Steve Yzerman sure made a lot of bone head moves lately,” tweeted Dan Knightly.

Yzerman remarkably losing grip on his hockey brilliance was a prevalent theme in the hate tweting.

“I thought Yzerman was a genius in Tampa, but maybe he was just surrounded with great people,” noted Van City Prospects.

It wasn’t just everyday fans who were questioning the Yzerman blueprint, though. NHL draft guru Byron Bader was another assessing the performance of the Detroit GM as undwerwhelming.

“I’m not sure if Detroit and Yzerman realize they won their Cups in the 90s and 2000s because they were a juggernaut with a ton of stars,” Bader posted. “Can’t get anywhere with just a bunch of guys.

“The whole Red Wings rebuild feels incredibly underwhelming. Yzerman was my favorite player since I was 5 years old and I grew up a Red Wings fan. I’m sorry… I don’t know what the plan is there.”

Of course, there’s one factor worth keeping in mind during all this slagging of Stevie Y.

Yzerman really doesn’t care what any of us think about his decisions. And it’s always wise to remember that the GM who listens to the fans on a regular basis will soon become one of them.