Steve Yzerman ruins a free agency trade for the Detroit Red Wings

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Jim
July 14, 2024 (1:35 PM)

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Steve Yzerman and his plan, the «Yzerplan,» have left a lot of Red Wings fans scratching their heads recently.

That continued this summer, as a lot of fans were left confused and stunned after hearing that the Wings traded defenseman Jake Walman to the San Jose Sharks for future considerations. It later came out that Detroit added a second round pick to the trade, practically sending Walman and a second to San Jose for free.

Well, NHL insider Frank Seravalli revealed that Yzerman didn't even bother to look at other options, and he just took the first one that came up. The following quote is from Seravalli.

"I can tell you that teams just make deals sometimes, without consulting everyone else. The Jake Walman trade. There were teams that were in position to take on a bad contract that were shocked that a second round pick got attached to the Jake Walman deal. Sometimes our assumptions are incorrect that the entire league has been canvassed»

Walman is 28 years old and was drafted in the third round of the 2014 draft by the St. Louis Blues. He did a good enough job on the blue line last year for Detroit, having 12 goals and nine assists, tallying up to 21 points in 63 games with a -2. Walman had two years left to go on his current deal at $3.4 million per year.

Sure, it's a cap dump that benefits, but you can't just go and take the first offer you get. You have to look at all options, because they could've at least gotten something in return.

Credit: HockeyFeed

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