It’s almost as if they decided they were terrible for too long and just tried to improve in the short term without thinking long-term. They sacrificed their long-term health to chase (and miss) the playoffs now for no logical reason.

It also goes back to the Ken Holland years. In 2017, they drafted Michael Rasmussen over Vilardi, Tippett, Necas, and Suzuki. In 2018, they drafted Zadina over Hughes and Bouchard. They made good first picks between 2019-21, Kasper is still unknown, but they missed out on two good drafts.

This won’t be an easy sell to fans or ownership, but if Yzerman truly wants to make this version of the Red Wings a contender, it’s what he has to do. He must explain that they need more time to get things right. He has enough goodwill for that. #LGRW

The easiest way out of this is to draft the help you need. The best way to do that is to get the best pick you can so you can have your pick of the very best talent. It’s not the only way out but it’s the fastest and most value-effective way to become a perennial contender. #LGRW

Next year’s draft appears to have more depth outside the top handful of picks, but they should still aim to get one of that draft’s top forward talents. Top-line forwards are their biggest weakness, and that needs to be addressed. #LGRW

This doesn’t mean they’re doomed. Going forward, this season and next, they should be aiming to get better draft picks. Looking specifically at this draft, Hagens and Misa fit the bill of future top line C the Red Wings need. They need to aim to be bad enough to get one. #LGRW

This isn’t hindsight, either. These issues were brought up before the start of 22-23. Yzerman and co. went ahead and started trying to build before they had gotten the necessary pieces. Now, they’re falling short of where they want to be because of it. #LGRW

If they didn’t push to be average in 23-24, they would get a top LHD prospect or maybe a top forward prospect in Iginla, Catton, or maybe Demidov, depending on how bad they would be. But they pushed before they had the pieces necessary, and are mediocre because of it. #LGRW

Say you didn’t try to get to take a step forward in 22-23. Do you end up with one of Carlsson, Fantilli, Smith, Leonard, or Michkov instead of Danielson? The roster looks much better, with one of them as a core piece instead of Danielson as a support option. #LGRW

Pushing to improve before the necessary pieces were in place has hurt the roster. They don’t have the centre depth necessary to do damage long-term. Danielson is fine, but it’s doubtful he'll be a top C. Larkin isn’t a generational 1C capable of carrying an entire team. #LGRW

If they had been more patient and not pushed so hard to get better in 22-23 and 23-24, they could have finished a few spots lower in the standings and gotten better draft picks that would have yielded better actual future core players, not complementary pieces. #LGRW

I don’t believe that he can live up to this deal. Colorado, however, put themselves in a position where they were forced to overpay for him based on contract extension projections. They don’t have any other options and need him to work out.

‪I also don’t think Todd McLellan is necessarily the best teacher for the young players. That has to be the goal right now since there isn’t hope for this season. He doesn’t have a great track record of being the best teacher. ‬#LGRW

Todd McLellan hasn’t seen much success with any team he’s coached. His most significant success was with the Sharks over a decade ago when he went to back-to-back conference finals. Since then, he’s made questionable, at best, decisions as a head coach for the modern game. #LGRW

I also don’t foresee many top American-born players going to Canada to play hockey in the CHL at ages 16 and 17. Because of this, USA Hockey has no reason to panic sell teams with the USHL program.

The new CHL-NCAA agreement doesn't significantly affect the USHL. It does in a minor way, as some top players may wish to play in the CHL over the USHL, but that will be few and far between. Most top US-born players go through the NTDP to the NCAA.

It’s quite odd that the OHL thought it could just panic buy two USHL teams without realizing that it hasn’t given USA Hockey a reason to transfer those teams over. If they want this to be a successful endeavour, they need to work on giving USA Hockey a reason to agree.

For Seattle, this is a no-brainer. You get a younger player with growth potential for a pending UFA on your third pair and a couple of picks that likely won’t return a player of Kakko’s stature and potential.