How's this for an endorsement of the Red Wings' GM?
Bobby Ryan, who signed a one-year deal with Detroit on Friday, said that after he heard from Steve Yzerman in free agency, he had no desire to hear from anyone else.
His mind was already made up.
"While I did still have some other meetings and calls and back-and-forth’s with my agent, my heart just wasn’t in it," Ryan said on a Zoom call with local media. "Because I had spoken to Steve first, and it was a 45-minute call that just left me with the impression that it was the right fit, without knowing what else was out there. It didn’t feel like it was going to matter. I knew where I wanted to be based on (our) conversation.
"The passion that comes through for the Red Wings, through him, is contagious. I left and walked out of the room and told my wife, 'I think we’re signing in Detroit.' I would go through the process like I’m supposed to with everything else, but after the phone call I didn’t feel like I needed to hear anything else from anybody."
No, Ryan isn't the star he used to be -- though he has goals of proving otherwise. And no, he won't vault the Red Wings back into playoff contention next season. He's a veteran forward on the backside of his career who will give the team depth up front and leadership in the locker room.
So let's not act as if Yzerman reeled in the biggest fish of free agency.
Still, this is a testament to Yzerman's appeal with players across the league. They know what he did in his playing days, and maybe more importantly, they know what he did during his tenure as GM of the Lightning.
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It's the aura the Red Wings used to have in free agency when they were a perennial Cup contender. And it's the aura they lost toward the end of the Ken Holland era.
Yzerman, even now, is making Detroit a destination again. It's not as if he lured Ryan to the Wings with dollar signs; his deal is worth $1 million. For Ryan, the prospect of a top-six role was enticing, no doubt, but so was the prospect of playing for one of the most respected figures in hockey.
When it comes time for the Wings to make more substantial moves in free agency a couple years down the line, Yzerman's reputation might be the edge they need.
In this case, Dylan Larkin helped, too.
"Dylan was probably one of the biggest conversations I had where he mentioned, 'Listen, you can come in and we can be a much more competitive team than we were last year. You’ll help, we’re a year older, we’ve been through it a little more. There’s going to be some other players coming in.' They have a good feeling that they’re going to be a much more competitive team," Ryan said. "That’s all I needed to hear.
"I did ask him if the team was bogged down by the losing, like, has it gotten to you in the sense that you’re just accepting of it? Because that would have been a big red flag for me. One thing that was told to me was, 'Coach would have been fired if he thought that we all accepted that.' So you understand that this is not a group of guys that wants to lose, that is OK with it, and they’re not going to lose for long. I hope I can help facilitate them into that next stage."