Why landing sniper DeBrincat represents key shift for Red Wings’ Yzerplan

After weeks of speculation, the Alex DeBrincat saga reached a resolution Sunday, the Farmington Hills, Mich., native going home in a trade to the Detroit Red Wings and inking a new four-year deal soon after.

For his former club, the Ottawa Senators, it’s a disappointing turn after a much-hyped arrival in the capital a year ago, the Sens paying a trio of picks to acquire the sniper from Chicago before ultimately netting a four-piece package — Dominik Kubalik, prospect Donovan Sebrango, a first-round pick and a fourth-rounder — for DeBrincat this week after he informed the club he wasn’t interested in signing long-term in Ottawa.

On the other side of the deal, though, DeBrincat’s arrival signifies an important new chapter in a Red Wings rebuild that has begun to drag.

The sniper’s new club is in Year 5 of what fans in Detroit have dubbed the ‘Yzerplan,’ the long-term vision laid out by franchise legend Steve Yzerman, who took over as GM in 2019 after helping to build a contender in Tampa Bay.

Though the former Red Wings captain stressed when he arrived that progress would be slow, and success would take time, the lack of results over his first four seasons at the helm — four years without playoff hockey, four years of finishing between fifth and eighth in their division — has left some fans’ belief wavering.

Landing DeBrincat, a two-time 40-goal scorer in the prime of his career, represents one of Yzerman’s biggest swings since he took hold of the club’s reins. But what does the new chapter mean for the success of his long-term effort to rebuild the team overall? To get a better sense of that picture, we take a look back at the biggest signings, trades, and draft additions during Yzerman’s tenure in Detroit so far.

The highlight of Yzerman’s first year back in Detroit was undeniably his decision to draft Moritz Seider at the 2019 NHL Draft.

Rewind back to that draft night, and even Seider himself was shocked to be tabbed by the Red Wings at sixth-overall, the German standout having expected he’d hear his name called closer to the middle of the first round. But Yzerman, who’d gone to Mannheim and seen firsthand the big-bodied defender’s potential, took a swing. It paid off, as Seider finished the campaign with the Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year.

Aside from that key franchise moment though, the new GM did only some tinkering around the edges. In free agency, he handed out two-year deals to veteran depth centre Val Filppula, defender Pat Nemeth and backup goalie Calvin Pickard, the trio of moves filling out the roster, added some experience, but not moving the needle little. On the trade market, Yzerman similarly opted for smaller-impact moves, bringing in a few depth-forward gambles in Adam Erne, Brendan Perlini and Robby Fabri, as well as defender Alex Biega.

During the campaign, which saw the Red Wings wind up finishing last in their division, Yzerman traded away quick-footed forward Andreas Athanasiou and veteran offensive defender Mike Green, both to the Edmonton Oilers, and bring in veteran pivot Sam Gagner.

Netting an even higher lottery pick for his second draft with the club, Yzerman tabbed Lucas Raymond with the fourth-overall pick in 2020, another swing that paid off, as the Gothenburg, Sweden, native put up 23 goals in his rookie year (and, thus far, has amassed the second-most NHL points of anyone in his draft class).

With a pair of his own marquee prospects in tow — along with a young core that already featured Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha, along with two other pre-Yzerman top-10 picks in Filip Zadina and Michael Rasmussen — the GM went further than the year prior when it came to adding more talent to his roster.

Up front came Vlad Namestnikov on a two-year, $4-million deal, and veteran Bobby Ryan on a one-year, $1 million pact. On the blue line, a trade brought in Marc Staal, who was signed to a one-year, $2-million deal, along with free-agency adds Troy Stecher (two years, $3.4 million) and Jon Merrill (one year, $925,000). In net, Yzerman tabbed veteran Thomas Greiss, signing him to a two-year, $7.2-million deal.

Still, progress remained slow, the club finishing seventh in their division by season’s end. Before the year was through, Yzerman traded away Mantha to the Washington Capitals, bringing back Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik in the deal, along with some picks. The recently added Merrill was traded, too, for a prospect and a pick.

Picking sixth-overall again, Yzerman and the Red Wings tabbed defenceman Simon Edvinsson in the 2021 NHL Draft, the six-foot-six Swedish rearguard ranked as the top European blue-liner heading into the draft, and winding up the second defenceman taken that night overall.

Again, in free agency and on the trade market, Yzerman looked to follow a similar plan: shore up his defence, bring in some more experience, stabilize his goaltending, and gamble on low-risk forwards who had potential to break out offensively.

On the back end, he added Nick Leddy in a trade that sent a pick and Panik (acquired in that Mantha deal) to the New York Islanders. Up front, Yzerman brought in Pius Suter, fresh off a promising rookie showing in Chicago, and signed him to a two-year, $6.5-million deal. 

In net, the Wings rolled the dice on Alex Nedeljkovic, who’d just earned a Calder Trophy nomination for his performance in Carolina — bringing him in via a trade that moved out Jonathan Bernier and a pick. The young goalie was signed to a two-year, $6 million deal soon after.

Again, though, by the end of the year, the promise of those moves had faded. Yzerman traded away Leddy (to St. Louis, in a five-piece deal that netted Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Walman), Namestnikov (to Dallas, for a pick) and Stecher (to Los Angeles, for a pick). The club made some minor progress, finishing fifth in their division, but still wound up outside of the playoff picture.

The fourth chapter of the Yzerplan brought the most change to the Red Wings roster. Out went head coach Jeff Blashill and in came a new bench boss in Derek Lalonde. At the 2022 draft, another top-10 pick netted Austrian standout Marco Kasper at eighth overall.

The roster tinkering followed a similar blueprint. In net, the Wings brought in Ville Husso, fresh off a standout campaign in St. Louis, and signed him to a three-year, $14.25-million pact. On the back end, Yzerman signed Ben Chiarot to a (fairly polarizing) four-year, $19 million deal, and two-time Cup champion Olli Maatta to a one-year, $2.25-million deal.

Up front, Yzerman made a bigger splash, bringing in veteran David Perron (two years, $9.5 million), Dominik Kubalik (two years, $5 million) and Andrew Copp (at a hefty five years and $28.13 million).

But it was during the season that the biggest roster shakeup came, after that string of summer moves once again led to little in the way of results in the standings, the Red Wings finishing seventh in their division once again. At the trade deadline, Yzerman parted with roster mainstay Tyler Bertuzzi, trading the power forward to Boston for a pair of picks. Out went Vrana, too, traded to St. Louis for a prospect and a pick, as well as Sundqvist, who went to Minnesota for a pick.

Which brings us here, the cusp of the fifth year of the Yzerplan.

To this point, Yzerman’s work has followed a fairly consistent slow-and-steady blueprint. Four straight years of top-10 picks, four years of taking swings in free agency and on the trade market to find a solution in net (usually by way of offering a greater role to a star backup), to shore up the blue line around the club’s young talent, and to inject some life into the team’s offence. But on all of those fronts, not much has managed to take, and a number of the club’s additions have wound up as subtractions not long after.

So far this off-season, Yzerman’s done some of the same. On the back end, oft-maligned former Maple Leafs defender Justin Holl has joined the fray on a three-year, $10.4-million deal, along with Shayne Gostisbehere on a one-year, $4.13 pact. In net, yet another backup fresh off a standout season, Alex Lyon, was signed to a two-year, $1.8-million contract, with veteran James Reimer coming aboard too, at one year and $1.5 million.

Up front, another loss of a former mainstay, as the club terminated the contract of 2018 sixth-overall pick Zadina, who’d asked for a trade that the Red Wings weren’t able to make happen. But added to the forward corps were depth gambles forwards Klim Kostin (acquired from Edmonton in a deal that also netted Kailer Yamamoto, who the Red Wings then bought out) at two years, $4 million; Daniel Sprong at one year, $2 million; and Christian Fischer at one year, $1.13 million. Added, too, was another veteran, in J.T. Compher at a hefty five years and $27.5 million.

Take it all together and it should be clear why DeBrincat represents a significant shift for Yzerman and his vision.

To this point, the majority of adds the captain-turned-executive has been able to orchestrate in Detroit have either been for veterans past their prime, depth pieces, or dice-roll offensive adds who could hopefully break out in a Red Wings sweater.

In DeBrincat, they get something else. A bona fide top-tier offensive talent, in his prime. A key piece of the team’s core moving forward. The first 40-goal threat in a Red Wings sweater since Marian Hossa, a decade-and-a-half ago.

The value of DeBrincat’s new deal alone should indicate as much, as the $31.5-million sum he was given is the most Yzerman’s handed out to anyone aside from captain Dylan Larkin — the only player he gave term to, on an eight-year, $69.6-million extension. At four years, DeBrincat doesn’t get as much term as recent additions Compher and Copp, who each got a fifth year, but the former Chicago and Ottawa sniper will be the second-highest-paid player on Yzerman’s roster next season, by a decent margin.

The question now is how much of an impact DeBrincat’s able to have in Detroit. More additions, and further growth from the club’s marquee prospects, are needed for true progress to come for the club. But if the 25-year-old can rediscover his 40-goal form, if he can perhaps climb even higher among the game’s top snipers, his presence should signify an important step forward for a Red Wings rebuild that’s seemed stuck in the mud for the past half-decade.