There has to be a plan in place in Detroit, doesn’t there?? They were eliminated for what would seem eons ago and looked primed as the favorite for the top pick in the 2020 NHL Draft– should the lottery balls be in their favor.

But thus goes Steve Yzerman and what I can only assume is the plan he has called the Yzer-Manifesto.

With the talent they have offensively, the ability to score should be there with Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin, Filip Zadina, and the potential of Robby Fabbri are better than what they’ve put out there…at least some would hope. Maybe an addition here and there is needed, but it’s not much of an overhaul as it is developing together a bit more.

Yet, the biggest part of the Yzer-Manifesto should be working from the goal and work outward. Obviously Jimmy Howard isn’t the future of this team and Jonathan Bernier is the veteran back-up to move forward. There’s plenty of money to be had for the Red Wings, so the idea of bringing in Robin Lehner for big money and term isn’t the worst idea. Of course, Braden Holtby is out there– but his instability this season will make some shy away from signing him. Of course, this is all dependent upon how they feel Filip Larson is progressing or not to make a long-term offer to anyone.

Moving upward, building the defense around Moritz Seider– maybe not for 2020-21, but as a starting point for when Seider does get to the NHL full-time. Joe Hicketts will have his time to shine because he could be a now-or-never situation considering he’s wrapping up his fourth season in Grand Rapids.

The Red Wings are notorious for keeping their prospects down on the farm to really grow, but maybe a new point of the Yzer-Manifesto is to not let the prospects overripe in the AHL and give them a bigger stage to perform on. That could be a case for Seider and Jared McIssac to maybe break the cycle of prospects and only be in the AHL for a year, two years at most.

Defensively on the free agent market, the idea of Tyson Barrie is a nice one, especially in the cap crunch the Maple Leafs are in– though if it boosts up as much as they think it will– maybe that’ll be enough to get Barrie under the Leafs banner for years…but you never know in this crazy business.

It is just Steve Yzerman’s first year with a team who has been trending down for a few seasons. This being the rock bottom situation may allow him to sit back and write out his Yzer-Manifesto from atop the Little Caesars Arena, trying to make HockeyTown, USA a thing again and more than just a night for teams to start their back-up goalie against.