LAS VEGAS — Nearly five years into his tenure in charge of the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman has turned what was the worst team in the NHL into one that the winningest player on the squad thinks can make some noise.

"Once you get past the trade deadline, you know what your team is," veteran Patrick Kane said. "This is a team we've had a lot of success with this year. I think there is a lot of confidence with this group."

Kane said that hours before the Wings delivered a stunning letdown, which happened hours after Yzerman opted not to add any newcomers before the trade deadline. The less said about Friday's 4-0 loss to the lottery-bound Arizona Coyotes the better; so suffice it to say it's not what Yzerman had in mind when asked about how far the organization has come since he was named GM in April 2019. His first season in charge, they had won a league-low 17 games when the pandemic shuttered the league in mid-March 2020.

"I’m going to be very conservative, but I think we have a good group of young prospects," Yzerman said in sizing up the state of the team. "We still have eight draft picks this year, eight draft picks next year. We are building a nucleus of young prospects that are going to be a part of this team. We are slowly moving young players along. It’s taking time and I do not have a set timeline.

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"It’s progressing and I am pleased it is progressing. Like everyone else I wish it was going a lot faster, and we are doing our best to expedite the process. It’s just taking time and I’m happy with the kids we have coming along in our organization, and our team this year, I‘m really pleased with the play and the improvement we’ve made as a team this year. We’re competing for a playoff spot and these last 20 games are going to be a great experience for our team."

Adding a three-time Stanley Cup champion in Kane in late November has had benefits beyond his mastery on the ice. It's helped stoke a sense within the locker room of being a playoff-caliber team, and that played into Yzerman's decision to stand pat at the deadline.

"I think the atmosphere within the team, at least it’s understanding and my impression from as close as I can get into the locker room — we have very good team spirit," Yzerman said. "There’s a lot of enthusiasm. You here the players talk about how much they’re enjoying playing together. So that is encouraging. And they have gotten us into a good spot here. Now we’ve got a real good race, which is going to be good for our team down the stretch and hopefully it works out that we finish the regular season in a playoff spot. I think that’s great."

Only two players — Dylan Larkin and Michael Rasmussen — remain from the roster Yzerman inherited. He has remade the team without any draft lottery luck, which really is a credit to Yzerman's drafting instincts, especially Moritz Seider (No. 6, 2019) and Lucas Raymond (No. 4, 2020). Over the past year, Yzerman brought in established players like Kane, Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher and Jeff Petry.

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That left Yzerman in the enviable position he was in last week, when he could look at his team and decide it was capable of making the playoffs without needing to bring in someone new, which would have cost something in return.

Instead, he put his faith in the group as is — and it is without Larkin until at least mid-March because of a lower-body injury — and in the organizational depth. Yzerman was silent at the deadline, and now it's on the team to make the right kind of noise.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.

Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

Next up: Sabres

Matchup: Red Wings (33-24-6 entering Saturday’s late game) at Buffalo (30-30-5).

Faceoff: 7 p.m. Tuesday; KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).

More online: The Wings wrapped up their road trip on Saturday night in Vegas, a game that ended after this edition went to press. Go to freep.com/sports/red-wings to find out how they fared against the Golden Knights.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings' Steve Yzerman pleased with progress 5 years in