DETROIT — You have to give a little to get a little in any good relationship. And in a way, that’s exactly what Steve Yzerman has done this offseason.
The Red Wings’ general manager gave away some of that financial flexibility he’d worked so methodically to create the last few years. But in the process, he has given new head coach Derek Lalonde the sort of flexibility his predecessor behind the Wings’ bench, Jeff Blashill, didn’t really have as the organizational rebuild bottomed out in the middle of his tenure.
After Yzerman spent more than two-thirds of his hefty salary-cap space this offseason — including the roughly $20 million for 2022-23 the GM doled out in the first 12 hours of free agency Wednesday — there’s finally a surplus of NHL-ready talent on the roster.
