Yzerman recaps 2022-23 season, says Red Wings did 'a lot of good things'

DETROIT -- Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman is nothing but honest when discussing the trajectory of the Detroit Red Wings.

Speaking to the media in his annual end-of-season session on Friday afternoon, Yzerman was quick to point out while there are several positives from the 2022-23 season, improvement across the board will be required next year for the Red Wings to take another step forward.
"We really need to get better in every area," Yzerman said. "We gotta be a more physical team and a more competitive team. That doesn't mean I gotta go out and get some 6-foot-6, 250 (pounder) to go out and beat people up. You have to win puck battles, block shots, win face-offs and all those little things make a team more competitive. We have to improve in all those areas."
Detroit finished the season with a 35-37-10 (80 points) record, a six-point improvement from 2021-22, but the Red Wings still placed seventh in the top-heavy Atlantic Division.
Detroit did make strides in several significant team statistics. Last season, the club ranked 25th in goals per game (2.77 percent), 31st in goals against per game (3.78), 16th on the power play (16.3) and 32nd on the penalty kill (73.8).
In 2022-23, the Red Wings finished 23rd in goals per game (2.93), 22nd in goals against per game (3.33), 16th on the man advantage (21.3) and 18th on the PK (78.5).

And while Detroit battled injuries throughout the season, Yzerman said the Red Wings finished where he mostly expected them to be.
"You lose some good players to injuries," Yzerman said. "It gave some other players an opportunity to play. You learn a little bit more about them and younger players are forced into maybe a bit bigger role and got to play more. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, in assessing the team, I don't think it had a huge impact. We did reasonably well. We managed to survive it for the most part early in the season and had a pretty decent record."
Yzerman's offseason priorities lie in improving the club. And when asked specifically about 2023 NHL Free Agency, which is set to kick off on July 1, Yzerman said he could look to upgrade the roster via the open market.
"I look at the group and there's players that would help us I'd like to sign," Yzerman said. "The issue is there's 31 other teams and the list isn't really that long. That makes it challenging. I sit here today and we talk about these players, know who they are and kind of have an idea if these guys would be a good fit for us."
Yzerman acknowledged only time will tell which players could be available, should they even reach free agency. That is why, according to Yzerman, the development of Detroit's promising young core remains crucial.
"We're gonna have some challenges," Yzerman said. "Hopefully these younger players we have on our team now play a bigger role next year. Maybe one or two of our younger players, whether they were in Grand Rapids or coming from somewhere else, push into the team. We'll slowly add to it and do the best we can to fill our roster."
Yzerman referenced last summer's notable free-agent signings as valuable moves that paid dividends for the Red Wings this season.

"I really liked the veterans that we brought in this year," Yzerman said. "I liked their attitude and character. They helped our team on and off the ice. I'll continue to try to add those types of players to help us as we build a young team that compete for playoffs and Stanley Cups hopefully."
As Detroit's top brass shifts their focus towards the offseason, the seeds are sewn for future success.
"There were a lot of good things this year," Yzerman said. "If I look at the big picture, I'm confident we're going in the right direction. I wish we were further ahead; everybody wishes we were further ahead. But there are a lot of positive things."