Red Wings set to give Vladimir Tarasenko another chance
Photo credit: CentralJersey.com
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman was open to giving Vladimir Tarasenko another chance next year in Detroit after an extremely disappointing 1st year with the team.
After Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman decided not to bring back David Perron last summer, he signed former Florida Panthers forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who had just helped them to the 1st Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Tarasenko was inked to a 2-year contract with an AAV (average annual value) of $4.75 million, but he came nowhere near close to living up to expectations; he had only 33 points (11G, 22A).
But rather than thinking about buying out the last year of his deal, Yzerman indicated that he expects Tarasenko to be able to produce more next year.
I think (Tarasenko's) play was better probably than his production. I would say he was frustrated not being able to produce and I think that affected his attitude and affected his play and I think.
You try to reassure him that you're doing a lot of good things out there and don't let the missed chances or the inability to score affect your play. I'm hopeful and expecting him to give us more than he did this year because I know we can. I believe he can give us more than what he showed this year.
Yzerman also touched on the performance of defenseman Erik Gustafsson, who was signed to replace both Shayne Gostisbehere and Jake Walman but was mostly a disappointment for the 1st half of the year; his play improved after the arrival of Todd McLellan, but then he missed the last several games of the year with injury, which didn't help Detroit's playoff chase.
We've talked about it down the stretch when Eric Gustafsson was out, we felt we missed him. We missed his mobility, his skating.
Gustafsson is under contract through 2026 with a $2 million AAV.
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