Steve Yzerman learns from Pierre Dorion’s mistakes

Pierre Dorion lost his position as GM of the Senators in recent months. His record in Ottawa was far from glorious, and the club will have a few more years to recover from the mistakes made during his reign.

What hasn’t helped Dorion is his mismanagement of fan expectations. Two years ago, he declared that the rebuild was over, which in hindsight was clearly not the case.

Then, a year ago, he said that had he acquired Jakob Chychrun earlier, the club might have made the playoffs in 2023.

Pierre Dorion says #Sens probably make the playoffs if they make Chychrun trade earlier in season.@CamandStrick pic.twitter.com/uIQq8OOifN

– Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) May 30, 2023

But still, in 2024, there he was… and the club didn’t exactly come close to being a team with a fighting chance of getting into the playoffs, let’s face it.

In both cases, Dorion placed too high an expectation on his club, which wasn’t there yet in its rebuilding process.

More importantly, in both cases, it raised the expectations of fans, who began to think that a return to the playoffs was increasingly possible and that the club was going to be good.

What I’ve noticed is that Steve Yzerman refuses to do what Dorion did: he weights expectations.

The Red Wings GM, who has been on the job for five years, refuses to promise that his team will be in the playoffs this year. He knows the battles are tough in the East, and even if his club came close to making them in 2024, he won’t promise anything.

He also knows that the soup is hot, as the Wings haven’t made the playoffs in eight years.

Yzerman has made mistakes (blocking his youngsters with veterans, for example) during his career as GM of the Red Wings, but at least he’s trying to control the way fans perceive the club.

That said, if things continue to go wrong, fans won’t need Stevie Y telling them what to think to get angry and impatient.

In Overtime

– Wave of signings in Calgary.

Flames have signed Zayne Parekh, Etienne Morin and Matvei Gridin to entry-level contracts. It’s literally happening in front of our faces right now.

– Julian McKenzie (@jkamckenzie) July 5, 2024

– Chicago or NCAA? To be seen.

Kyle Davidson said there hasn’t been a decision made yet on where Artyom Levshunov will play next season. Davidson said he saw benefits to him signing or returning to Michigan State.

– Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) July 5, 2024