Yzerman says every points count for first-place Red Wings

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Steve Yzerman follows NHL scores every night. Even when his own team is in the middle of a game, the Detroit Red Wings general manager monitors other games, especially those involving Atlantic Division rivals.

Did someone score late? Is a game headed to overtime? Is another team earning an extra point in the standings?

“I’m like, ‘I don’t care who wins,’” Yzerman said with a little laugh at the NHL Board of Governors meeting. “‘Just somebody win it in regulation.’”

The Stanley Cup Playoff race is incredibly tight in the Eastern Conference.

The Red Wings were below the cut line entering Monday. With a 4-0 win at the Vancouver Canucks that night, they jumped into first place in the Atlantic.

In the Atlantic, three points separate first from fifth, and five separate first from seventh. In the East, the Washington Capitals have a three-point lead, but three points separate the next 10 teams. Six points separate second from 15th.

“It’s really exciting for the League as a whole,” Yzerman said. “I think it’s extremely exciting. For individual teams, it’s nerve-wracking.”

Especially for a team like Detroit.

The Red Wings have gone nine seasons without making the playoffs, the longest drought in their history, and are celebrating their Centennial this season.

In 2023-24, they tied the Capitals with 91 points, but Washington earned the second wild card in the East due to the tiebreaker, regulation wins (32-27).

“I think it’s important for our team to understand, like, every single point could be the difference of us getting in or out,” Yzerman said. “Think of two years ago, when we missed by a point. I don’t know where that point’s going to be, but let’s make sure we grab it, because it could be the difference.”

Detroit made the playoffs 25 straight times from 1991-2016, winning the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.

Yzerman became a legend playing for the Red Wings from 1983-2006 and worked in their front office from 2006-10 before becoming the Tampa Bay Lightning GM in 2010. After building Tampa Bay into a contender, he returned to Detroit as GM in 2019 with the Red Wings in decline.

Rebuilding has not been easy. The Red Wings haven’t selected in the top three of the NHL Draft during Yzerman’s tenure, so they haven’t been able to get some of the elite young talent other teams have.

But after bottoming out in Yzerman’s first season with a .275 points percentage, the Red Wings slowly rose over the next four seasons -- .429, .451, .488, .555. They took a step back last season at .524, and now they’re at .583.

Some seeds are starting to sprout. On the 23-man roster, nine players were selected in the NHL Draft under Yzerman. Each is 24 or younger. The group includes six first-round picks and three rookies.

“That’s very encouraging, obviously,” Yzerman said. “They’ve changed the dynamics of our team a little bit. A little bit more speed in our game. A little bit more skill they’ve added to the lineup. A little bit more energy.”

At one end of the spectrum, forward Lucas Raymond, 23, and defenseman Moritz Seider, 24, have excelled. Raymond, the No. 4 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, has 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in 28 games, tied with captain Dylan Larkin (16 goals, 16 assists, 30 games) for the Detroit lead. Seider, the No. 6 pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, leads the Red Wings in average ice time (25:07) and their defensemen with 22 points (four goals, 18 assists) in 30 games.

At the other, forward Marco Kasper has struggled. Kasper, 21, the No. 8 pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, has four points (one goal, three assists) in 30 games. He ended an 18-game point drought with an assist Monday.

“I think not scoring, not producing, I think has affected his overall play,” Yzerman said. “The first one or two times you go through it, you feel like you’re never going to do anything. As time goes by, you learn how to be effective and focus on other things, and I think he’s just got to adjust to that.

“But he’s a worker, maybe to a fault. More, more, more, more, more. And you just wish he would just kind of relax and go. Just shut your brain off, drop the puck, go play hockey. Easier said than done.”

The biggest issue for Detroit is team defense. The Red Wings rank 12th in goals per game (3.10) but 25th in goals against per game (3.33). They’re seventh on the power play (24.0 percent) but tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for 23rd on the penalty kill (79.0 percent).

In goal, Cam Talbot is 9-4-2 with a 3.01 goals-against average and an .884 save percentage. John Gibson is 7-7-1 with a 3.35 GAA and an .881 save percentage after a 39-save shutout Monday.

“We give up a lot of chances, more than we should,” Yzerman said. “Our goaltenders have played some really good games and still given up four or five. What does that tell you, you know? Having said that, we need them both to be better, and we expect them to be. They’re good goaltenders. They’re professional.”

Yzerman said it has been a challenge for coach Todd McLellan and his staff to get the team to think defensively. Even in the offensive zone, the forwards must manage the puck and think, “Who’s the high guy?” The defensemen must know when to pinch and when not to, asking themselves, “Do have support?”

“It’s not just the young players,” Yzerman said. “It’s the mentality of our team, playing winning hockey. The challenge for our coaching staff is to continue to drill it in. All the good teams, they score, but they also defend.”

The Red Wings are 3-0-2 in their past five games entering their game at the Calgary Flames on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; SN, FDSNDET).

Yzerman will keep checking the scores.

“We’re in the middle of the playoffs right now every single game,” Yzerman said. “Our players seem to be recognizing the importance of every point in the standings.”