The Detroit Red Wings have had an interesting offseason, to say the least, and things took another turn on Wednesday when franchise legend and general manager Steve Yzerman announced he was leaving the position.
He will remain with the organization but will now serve as an advisor to CEO Chris Ilitch.
According to NHL.com, the team’s search for a new general manager is already underway and they will consider both internal and external candidates for the position.
NHL TEAM’S TOUGH SEASON GETS WORSE AS FRANCHISE LEGEND LEFT TO TRAIN FOR ARCHRIVAL
Kids, prepare the popcorn…
Yzerman is, of course, one of the greatest Red Wings of all time and captained three Stanley Cup-winning teams, some of which had what are, for my money, the best rosters of all time.
If you look at the 2002 Red Wings, you’ll say, “Oh, so this might be part of the reason they instituted a salary cap.”
Steve Yzerman was captain of some giant Red Wings teams of the 1990s and 2000s. (Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images/NHLI)
So it made sense that after a successful tenure as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Yzerman would be the man to help the Red Wings get back to the top in 2019, having last made the postseason in 2016.
However, in the seven years that Yzerman was general manager, the Red Wings never returned to the playoffs.
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Worse yet, that futility led captain and Detroit native Dylan Larkin to ask for a trade.
I think this speaks to the danger of putting a franchise legend in charge of your team. There’s no doubt that if someone else without Yzerman’s history with the organization had published the same results, there’s no chance it would have lasted as long.
Steve Yzerman will step down as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings after first taking over the role in 2019; However, under his direction, the team never made the postseason. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
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And, perhaps by letting things last so long, that led Larkin to want out. Sure, players ask for trades all the time (especially these days), but it’s not a good look for the current state or future direction of the franchise.
Now, one of the big questions is whether this change in leadership will make Larkin reconsider his desire to leave the team.
That wouldn’t be unheard of, but it looks like the next Red Wings general manager will have to deliver the sales pitch of the century to convince Larkin that the franchise can get back to winning ways quickly.
