As the NHL season winds to a close, you might be like Steve Yzerman. You might be pondering the value of wins for the Red Wings.
On one hand, wins are important for a young team. They breed confidence and reflect growth. On the other, they hurt the club's chances in the draft lottery.
To win or not to win? With 12 games remaining for the Wings, even their GM finds himself wrestling with the question.
"It’s funny. We all hate when we lose, we’re all mad when we lose, and then when we win we’re like, 'Oh, do we really want to win?'" Yzerman said Tuesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "It’s a strange kind of dynamic."
If the season ended today, the Wings would have the fifth best odds in the lottery, according to Tankathon.com. They could feasibly climb as high as No. 2 down the stretch, with four points separating them from the Senators. That would raise their chances from 8.5 percent to 13.5 percent of picking first overall and from 17.2 percent to 26.5 percent of picking in the top two.
But you remember what happened last year. So does Yzerman. The Wings had the best odds of landing the first overall pick and wound up picking fourth. So Yzerman isn't all that concerned with Detroit's draft odds in the final few weeks of the season. He'd rather see a young team show signs of progress.
"I’m watching the young guys, really. We have (Gustav) Lidstrom and (Dennis) Cholowski in the lineup. I'm watching Michael Rasmussen, Givani Smith, just to see how they do," Yzerman said. "We have to make decisions on our roster next year on the protected list for the expansion draft, so trying to figure things out. As we go down the stretch here, that’s really what I’m focused on.
"Ultimately, it’s tough. The draft lottery in our league is what it is. It’s unpredictable. You can sit there and say we want to lose every single game and still, there’s no guarantees. It’s hard to do that. So I’m happy that our kids are playing and doing well. And the veterans out there, the guys that are (going to be) free agents, they’re fighting for contracts for next year. There’s scouts in the building, we’re watching, so everyone’s got a lot to play for. At the end of the day, if our team plays well we’re happy.”
Yzerman also dished on Monday's trade deadline blockbuster in which Detroit acquired two high draft picks and forwards Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik from the Capitals in exchange for Anthony Mantha.
Vrana was a key piece of the return for the Wings, a 25-year-old with a high offensive ceiling who should be able to replace Mantha's production. He's averaged .71 points in 14:42 per game over the last two seasons, compared to .69 points in 18:34 per game for Mantha. Yzerman described them as similar players.
"They're wingers who go straight up and down the wing," Yzerman said. "They’re scorers. Anthony might be a little bit more of a playmaker, bigger body, but Jakub is going to go up and down the wing, create scoring chances off the rush. We describe guys as shooters or playmakers, I think he’s more of a shooter. Good goal scorer."
Yzerman also likes Vrana's versatility on the power play, where he averaged 2:20 per game this season for one of the best units in the NHL.
"It’s tough to get ice time on that power play. I saw him play in different spots, whether it be in the slot, down low on the goal line, or even on the half wall. There’s some flexibility there," Yzerman said.
And while Vrana has mostly played on his off-wing as a left-hand shot, Yzerman believes he can play on his strong side as well. It's all about getting the most out of a player who looks like a new piece of Detroit's core.
"I’m going to talk to him, I think he could really play either side,” said Yzerman. “But a good skater with good speed who, again, is good off the rush. He’s been a 24- and 25-goal scorer (the past two seasons), so the numbers are similar to Anthony’s in a lesser role because he was playing lesser minutes on a much better team. We’ll see how he does in an increased role here in Detroit."