Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman said that he expects more from his players in the wake of their 10th consecutive season of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs during his season-ending media availability on Thursday.
While it appeared the Detroit Red Wings were well on their way to breaking their lengthy postseason drought when they were tied for first in their division in January, the same ills that had plagued them over the last several years caught up with them again.
The lack of five-on-five scoring was exposed and, what was once a comfortable lead in the standings vanished in March. Detroit ultimately missed the postseason for the 10th straight campaign, which is now the longest active drought in the NHL.
Down the stretch, the Red Wings repeatedly found themselves trailing against the opposition by multiple goals, leading to head coach Todd McLellan emphasizing the need for more urgency and competitiveness in such important contests.
Both McLellan and GM Steve Yzerman held their end-of-season media availability on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena, during which the latter began by saying the team needs to improve overall and that it's incumbent upon him and his staff to make the necessary adjustments.
When asked about Detroit's third consecutive unraveling in March that ultimately resulted in their falling out of the postseason chase, Yzerman responded that it's a shared responsibility from all avenues of the organization.
“I’ll start by saying, we all have to take responsibility for it,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here today and just criticize or dump on our players, beat our players up. Our management team, our hockey operations staff, our coaching staff, and our players have to do what is necessary throughout the course of the season."
"Obviously, on my end of things, we’ve got to try and improve the team and address the areas that need to be improved."
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McLellan pulled no punches following Detroit’s regular-season finale, their most lopsided loss of the campaign. They were defeated 8–1 by the Florida Panthers, their largest margin of defeat in 2025–26, after which McLellan said the entire club should be embarrassed by the lack of effort.
That loss occurred after Detroit had already been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention just days earlier.
But while the Red Wings were clinging to a postseason spot down the stretch, McLellan found himself repeatedly having to urge the Red Wings to raise their level of competitiveness and desire down the stretch, saying bluntly on March 30 that he and his coaching staff “shouldn’t be trying to extract competitiveness or heaviness out of the players at this time.”
“It’s up to Todd and his staff to get the players that we have in the organization and on the team to play a certain way, to be successful, to motivate them, and maybe to teach and educate them, and then for the players themselves to go on the ice and do it," Yzerman continued. "We all share the responsibility, and I can’t sit here and just say, ‘Hey, these players are no good,’ because we have a lot of good players."
Several Red Wings players had fine seasons production wise, as Alex DeBrincat became the first Detroit forward since Marian Hossa in 2008-09 to score 40+ goals. Dylan Larkin set a new career-high in goals with 34, while Patrick Kane managed 57 points in 67 games.
Additionally, Moritz Seider set new career-highs in points, minutes, and plus-minus.
However, Yzerman reiterated that he expects more - even from the players who had no issues producing.
“Having said that, I expect a lot more," Yzerman said. "Some players had very good seasons here, and some even that had good seasons, I expect more from them and to make the adjustment to playing not just down the stretch, but playoff-type hockey."
Before finally breaking through as a Stanley Cup champion in 1997, Yzerman experienced numerous heartbreaks as a player and knows full well that it's part of the learning curve as a professional.
While the Red Wings have yet to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs under Yzerman's tutelage as GM, which is now just over seven full years, he pointed to the importance of resilience, development, and everyone within the organization taking responsibility.
“I went through this as a player myself, the ups and the downs, the failures, the disappointments, and you have to learn from it, and you have to adjust and be mentally tough enough to get through it," Yzerman said. "That’s a challenge for a lot of our guys."
"But ultimately, it’s up to Todd and myself and our staff to make these players better, prepare them better, make them harder, and also to improve the talent around them."
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