Detroit Red Wings: Steve Yzerman has already begun leaving his mark

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Detroit Red Wings General Manager Steve Yzerman is back at it again. After a successful tenure with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he is back to his magical ways again, this time in Detroit.

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has been regarded as one of the best general managers of this era and for good reason. His incredible trades as the Tampa Bay Lightning GM are widely talked about. Yzerman’s remarkable work while negotiating new contracts is well known. He built Tampa into a super-team during an age in hockey where the salary cap mostly prohibits that ability. Yet, he maneuvered his way around that cap to get it done.

Now, his former team in Detroit has called for his help, and he answered. Almost immediately, Yzerman has begun his masterful work. His first somewhat big move went towards dealing with the Lightning. There, he acquired then-restricted free agent forward Adam Erne.

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Yzerman then signed him to a one-year, $1.05 million contract. All he gave up was a 2020 fourth-round pick. Despite not yet recording a single point in the first 14 games, Yzerman is familiar with the young forward. He could work with Erne and get him to pick it up as we near the halfway point of the season.

Next, he acquired Alex Biega from the Vancouver Canucks. He has only played five games to this point, though he had some pretty stellar underlying stats last season with Vancouver. If head coach Jeff Blashill can get the right pairing for him, this could be another excellent depth acquisition. All they gave up was former fourth-round selection, David Pope, who has yet to play a single NHL game, despite being 25-years-old.

Finally, Yzerman made his best move to this point – he traded left-winger Jacob de la Rose to the St. Louis Blues for Robby Fabbri. Jacob de la Rose has never played more than 60 games in a season and has recorded just 32 points in 196 career NHL games while playing primarily on the fourth forward line. This season, de la Rose has four points in 17 games, with all four points coming in Detroit, through 16 games.

Meanwhile, Fabbri has played one season over 70 games, though he never played more than 52 games in a season since then. Despite playing in fewer games, mainly due to injuries, he has posted far more points, with 76 points in 166 games. In St. Louis this season, Fabbri had recorded just one goal in nine games.

In his first two games in Detroit, Fabbri has recorded three points (two goals, one assist). He’s also averaging nearly five minutes more per game while in Detroit. Fabbri has immediately found a role in Detroit that benefits both the team and himself. This trade immediately paid dividends while the first two have yet to reap much yet, in terms of production. However, this is just the surface of what Yzerman can bring to the table.

We need only to look at some of his best trades in Tampa to see just how incredible Yzerman has been as a general manager. But before we get into that, it’s equally important to note his mastery when it comes to contract negotiations.

In the 2016 offseason, everyone seemed to believe that Steven Stamkos will find himself as a free agent. However, at the last second, Yzerman got Stamkos to take a shockingly low deal at $8.5 million per season for eight years.

Following the conclusion of his entry-level contract and a 66-point season, it seemed as though Nikita Kucherov was due for a pay-day that Yzerman could not afford. Instead, he talked Kucherov into taking a three-year bridge deal, worth an average of $4.667 million per season.

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Yzerman’s Best Deals

First, let’s start with a minor deal, which has paid dividends thus far for Tampa. That’s what best reflects the deals he has made so far. On July 1, 2017, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded AHL goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis to the New York Islanders in exchange for former Maple Leafs third-round pick Carter Verhaeghe.

Gudlevskis is no longer in the NHL, as he moved his talents overseas to the KHL following the 2017-18 NHL season. Meanwhile, Verhaeghe has had a long road which, at long last, has been realized. He made the Lightning roster to start the year, playing in 10 games so far with one assist. Verhaeghe has outstanding possession statistics, with both his corsi-for% and fenwick-for% over 50% despite averaging very little ice time.

One of his most brilliant trades was another buy-low deal which paid huge dividends. On April 3, 2013, Yzerman sent a 2013 fourth-round pick and undrafted forward Cory Conacher to the Ottawa Senators for Ben Bishop. Conacher has since returned to Tampa’s organization, playing for their AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch. Bishop went on to become one of the greatest goaltenders in franchise history.

This deal is hands-down the greatest Yzerman trade, in my humble opinion. Ironically enough, it was between the Lightning and Red Wings. On February 21, 2012, in a three-team trade, Tampa dealt Kyle Quincey to the Red Wings in exchange for Detroit’s 2012 first-round pick and Sebastian Piche.

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Quincey is now out of the league and was one of the worst defensemen on Detroit’s roster. While Piche didn’t turn out to be much of anything, that 2012 first-round pick turned into the defending Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Finally, Yzerman’s biggest trade among the aforementioned deals came on February 26, 2017. The Lightning dealt Bishop to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for veteran goalie Peter Budaj, young defenseman Erik Cernak, and two seventh-round picks in 2017.

Bishop continued his struggles that season in Los Angeles and left them in free agency to join the Dallas Stars. Meanwhile, Budaj played 15 games in Tampa, where he won games but did not have appealing stats. However, it was enough to ease the young Vasilevskiy into a starting role, which would wind up playing a major factor in his development.

Cernak got called up mid-way through the 2018-19 season on an emergency basis. He impressed fans and coaches alike, solidifying his roster spot through just several games. Cernak has since been a part of one of the most successful defensive lines in the NHL, alongside Ryan McDonagh.

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There were many, many deals that Yzerman made with Tampa that will go down as some of the best trades ever made. It’s no secret that he is arguably the best GM in the NHL today. A quick look into what he has done in the past with Tampa sheds a bright light on the potentially dominant future ahead for the Red Wings organization. He’s already off to a fast start.

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