Tampa Bay Lightning: Why Steve Yzerman might be overrated
Since Steve Yzerman retired, he has made a name for himself as a General Manager, is known as one of, if not, the best GM in the NHL. But does he deserve that title?
Steve Yzerman was an outstanding player. Now Yzerman’s making a name for himself as a general manager. He made the Tampa Bay Lightning one of the most star-powered teams in the entirety of the NHL after a few years of struggling. He made some crazy trades throughout the years and he has been extremely successful through the draft, more specifically in the later rounds.
But I feel as though he is only good at building teams from the ground up. I feel like Yzerman is a one-dimensional GM that makes mistakes the minute his team becomes consistent contenders. Before we get into that, let’s look at his successful moves first.
Trades
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His first great trade came on February 21st, 2012. That was when he traded defenseman Kyle Quincey to the Detroit Red Wings for Sebastien Piche and a 2012 first-round pick. The 2012 first-round pick was spent on Andrei Vasilevskiy, who wound up becoming a Vezina Trophy winner and a yearly finalist for that trophy. An excellent trade that went a very long way towards building an excellent future.
Yzerman’s second great trade came when he dealt Cory Conacher, who has since returned, and a 2013 4th round pick in exchange for Ben Bishop.
Bishop wound up becoming one of the best goaltenders in franchise history, leading the Lightning to a Stanley Cup appearance and two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Yzerman flipped Bishop to the Los Angeles Kings, as Vasilevskiy was ready to take over the starting job. In return, the Lightning got Peter Budaj, Erik Cernak, and two late-round picks. Cernak has become a mainstay on the Lightning’s blueline, creating a formidable duo with Ryan McDonagh. Budaj filled in behind Vasilevskiy effectively enough to get by but shortly left the organization.
Another great trade took place on June 15, 2017, with the Montreal Canadiens. The Lightning dealt Jonathan Drouin in exchange for Mikhail Sergachev. Since this deal, Drouin has struggled for a role in Montreal and his superstar potential has not been realized. Meanwhile, Sergachev has wound up becoming one of the better young defensemen in the league and a huge piece of the Lightning’s blueline.
On July 1st, 2017, Yzerman dealt AHL goalie Kristers Gudlevskis for Carter Verhaeghe from the New York Islanders. Gudlevskis has yet to claim an NHL roster spot, while Verhaeghe has earned a role on the Lightning bottom-six forward group, providing a spark for the team.
Finally, Yzerman made a mega-deal at the 2018 trade deadline with the New York Rangers. In that deal, he traded Vladislav Namestnikov, top prospects Libor Hajek and Brett Howden, along with multiple draft picks, in exchange for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller.
Hajek and Howden have yet to make much of an impact with the Rangers. Meanwhile, Namestnikov struggled and eventually parted with the team. McDonagh is arguably the Lightning’s best defensive defenseman, forming a strong pairing with Cernak.
Miller, on the other hand, was constantly moving up and down the lineup, but still playing very well in a strange role. He eventually got traded to the Vancouver Canucks at the 2019 NHL draft.
Draft Picks
Through the years, Yzerman has done an excellent job with drafting. As mentioned earlier, he drafted Vasilevskiy, who has won the Vezina once and was a finalist twice.
In the 2015 NHL draft, Yzerman held the 72nd overall draft pick. With it, he selected center Anthony Cirelli. Since this selection, he has appeared in 148 games, recording 36 goals and 83 points. Cirelli leads Lightning’s strong penalty-killing unit and solidified himself as a solid two-way center. He has climbed the ranks and has solidified himself as the second-line center, allowing head coach Jon Cooper to throw Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov on a line while maintaining strong scoring on the second-line.
In 2014, the Lightning drafted Point in the third round. Point has played in 275 NHL games, recording 109 goals and 240 points, including two 30+ goal seasons and one 40+ goal campaign. Point developed quickly, and his assent in the line-up allowed him to get a stranglehold of the first-line center spot, forcing captain Steven Stamkos onto the wing, making the Lightning first line extremely dominant.
Even further back, the Lightning drafted Ondrej Palat in the seventh round of the 2011 draft. Not only did he make it into the NHL a year after the draft, but he has appeared in 475 games with the Lightning with 105 goals and 317 points. He plays a middle-six wing role on the Lightning and is versatile enough to move up and down the line-up.
The greatest non-first round draft pick for Yzerman, however, was Nikita Kucherov, a second-round pick back in 2011. Since getting selected, he has won the Hart Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy, and the Pearson Trophy, as well as making three All-Star game appearances.
Kucherov has played in 495 NHL games with Tampa, recording 210 goals and 518 points, with four 30+ goal seasons and two 40+ goal seasons. It’s safe to say he is one of the best players in the league today. Though he was passed over by 29 other NHL teams, Yzerman saw something.
This doesn’t even include what he has done after the draft. Undrafted gems like Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde have played important roles on the Lightning roster.
Where has he gone wrong?
Yzerman can fleece fellow general managers in trades all day long, and he can continue to add to his pedigree of finding excellent draft steals, but one thing is certain: he makes crucial mistakes once his team becomes contenders.
He has been able to sign all-star players to team-friendly deals, just look at Stamkos and Kucherov’s deals to see that. But there’s no doubt that Yzerman has also screwed the pooch when it comes to players who have been good, not great, for the team. It also doesn’t help that he added no-trade clauses to a bunch of different player’s deals.
Johnson, Palat, Alex Killorn, and Yanni Gourde are all current examples of overpaid players on the roster. Ryan Callahan and Matthew Carle are other examples who have since moved on from the Lightning that were overpaid while in Tampa.
Johnson is signed to a $5 million contract that concludes at the end of the 2023-24 season and features a full no-trade clause. Even if the Lightning wanted to create cap room, despite clearly being paid more than what he can bring to the table, actually moving him is a very difficult task.
Palat is signed to a $5.3 million deal that brings him to the conclusion of the 2021-22 season with a full no-trade clause. Despite having a much improved season this year, Palat’s cap hit is still a bit much, but again, Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois can’t do much in the way of moving Palat because of the NTC that’s featured on his deal.
Killorn is signed to a $4.45 million deal that brings him to the conclusion of the 2022-23 season and features a full no-trade clause. He is having an excellent season this year and has slowly become a fan favorite. I’ve always believed Killorn has been wrongfully scrutinized due to what many thought to be an overpayment at the time.
Though he has turned it around, it’s the term that scares me. It’s hard for me to see Killorn recording three more 20+ goal seasons like the one he is having right now, and that contract could be scrutinized once again down the road. But, again, the full no-trade clause makes him near-impossible to move.
Finally, Gourde is signed to a $5.166 million deal that takes him to the end of the 2024-25 season with a full no-trade clause. Gourde has been reduced to a bottom-six role with the Lightning this season, and he is 28 years old, meaning his contract ends in his age 32 season. That’s a really bad look for the Lightning.
Miller, who was very effective for the Lightning, and is having a ridiculous year in Vancouver, was the odd-man-out in Tampa because he had a similar cap hit, but did not have a no-trade clause. Had it not been for Yzerman’s poor negotiating with these players, maybe Miller would have stuck around and played a bigger role than that of Gourde or been more effective this season in a similar role as Palat, Johnson, or Killorn.
I believe Yzerman knew what he was doing when he left Tampa Bay. For one, he recognized the total anarchy the Lightning would face in a short while, as Point was due for a new deal last offseason. So are Cirelli, Cernak, and Mikhail Sergachev at the end of this season.
He also knew an opening was sure to be available with Detroit, where he played in his storied NHL career, and that they are in dire need of a rebuild. So, why not go to an organization that you love and do what you do best as a GM? It’ll mask Yzerman’s flaws for another few years before he can call it quits altogether.
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Yzerman is an incredible GM, there’s no doubt about that. The issue is, I don’t believe he is good at sustaining a competitive roster based on some of the boneheaded decisions he has made at times throughout his tenure as the Lightning general manager. Here’s to hoping BriseBois is able to work his way around these obstacles and retain Cirelli, Cernak, and Sergachev this offseason.