Last summer, Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman looked to accelerate the team's rebuild, signing three veterans in Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot and David Perron. The move didn't exactly work out for the team, as they missed the postseason for the seventh straight year and really faded down the stretch.

Perron had a decent season, scoring 56 points in 82 games, but Copp really struggled, scoring just nine goals and 42 points of his own after being given a five-year, $28.1 million deal in July of 2022. Copp was unable to effectively anchor the team's second line, and ended up falling off the powerplay altogether.

This July, Yzerman decided to take another swing at a long contract for a veteran, signing former Colorado Avalanche forward and Stanley Cup champion JT Compher to a five-year, $25.5 million pact to pull the Illinois native out of Colorado and north to Michigan. Only time will tell if the signing pays off, but at first glance, it looks to be a puzzling move by the Red Wings legend.

Yzerman making same mistakes

Steve Yzerman is a great GM, that is not up for debate. But all front offices make mistakes, and it's odd that Yzerman gave Compher basically the same contract as Copp. It's worth mentioning that Compher has scored over 50 points just once in his career, and it came last season with the Avalanche.

Admittedly, it was a very weak group of centers in this year's free agency class, and the Red Wings desperately needed a 2C. Compher put up the best season of his career in Colorado and deserved to get a pay raise, but he isn't an elite player. He's a solid middle-six center if he can remain at the level he played at this past season.

The Red Wings also now have eight forwards who are 26 or higher, and they really only have one high-end talent in Larkin. Players like Lucas Raymond, Dominik Kubalik, Perron, Copp and now Compher are solid players who would help surround a postseason competitor, not a rebuilding team. It's very possible that the young talent the team has tried to develop will be hindered from NHL development by a group of aging forwards.

Just look at Filip Zadina, a promising young talent who was drafted in the first-round by the Red Wings in the 2018 NHL Draft and was put on unconditional waivers on Thursday.

Compher propped up by Avs' linemates

Another factor into why this might not be a great move for Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings' front office is JT Compher's track record. He was a 50-point player last season playing almost exclusively with either Nathan MacKinnon or Mikko Rantanen. There isn't talent even close to the level of those two players in Detroit.

Before 2022-23, Compher's season-high is 33 points; that's nowhere near what a reliable second-line center needs to be producing. Obviously, there's hope in Michigan that Compher can recreate the success he had last year, but it just doesn't seem likely with the linemates he will play with in Detroit.

Another factor is Compher's injury history. He's been plagued by concussions and other ailments throughout his career, and 2022-23 was the first season he played a complete 82-game set. If he gets injured next season, or cannot replicate at least the 52 points he scored last year with the Avs, the contract has potential to age as poorly as Andrew Copp's probably will.

Final Grade: C

Overall, this signing just doesn't really make sense for Detroit. After giving Andrew Copp basically the same amount of money and watching him flounder last season, they now have Copp and Compher at 2C and 3C, two players who will be hard-pressed to anchor their own line, especially with the linemates they will have. Although it's a reliable 1-2-3 punch down the middle, it certainly isn't ideal.

For JT Compher, it's excellent. He goes to a team where he will get tons of ice time, and a place he will likely be exposed to Dylan Larkin on the powerplay. He also earned a term of five years when a lot of players were only getting one-to-two year contracts in NHL free agency in 2023. But expecting this player to get over 50 points again is a huge gamble, and the contract will pay him until he's 33-years-old.

Steve Yzerman jumped the gun last summer by signing veterans who weren't gamebreakers, and the team simply wasn't ready to take the next step into playoff contention. He's now doing it again this season, and with both JT Compher and Andrew Copp on the books for likely at least the next four years, it's a huge gamble that one of them will be able to provide the play at 2C that will help get the Wings back into the playoffs.