In the midst of a quiet offseason in the National Hockey League, there were waves out of Detroit as it was announced that Steve Yzerman would be stepping down as General Manager of the Red Wings and moving up to be a senior advisor to CEO Chris Ilitch.
NHL News: Yzerman out of GM, Devils sign Mantha, and a few other signings
The move is making many people scratch their heads, wondering why now. If the Red Wings were going to move on from Yzerman, maybe they should have done it after the season ended to have a new staff in place for the draft and free agency.
“The timing of it is from my standpoint, if he was being pushed out, why now?” Helene St. James said on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play segment on Wednesday. “It’s been three months since the season ended. To me, this indicates more that he decided to step back. But it leaves a messy situation. I mean, whoever succeeds him still has to deal with the whole Dylan Larkin mess, amongst many other things, trying to make this team look like they might not be the worst team in the East next season.”
For the most part, and it has been reported throughout the season, if Steve Yzerman was going to leave, it was going to be on his terms. That is how much of a competitor he is. CEO Chris Ilitch was not going to fire him. But you have to wonder, given everything that has happened over the past couple of seasons regarding the Detroit Red Wings failing to make the playoffs and their epic collapses, whether the timing was right for him to step aside.
What Will Happen with Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings?
But Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted on the Wednesday night edition of NHL Tonight on the NHL Network that there is some truth to what Helene St. James said earlier in the day. Maybe Steve Yzerman said being the General Manager in Detroit is not for him anymore. His GM style won’t work in today’s NHL.
“I was surprised. I really was because I didn’t see it coming at this time. I agree with you, the timing is a little bit odd, but what I think here is that we have seen a tumultuous last few weeks and months in the NHL between the offer sheets, the trade requests, not only in Detroit but elsewhere. Some of the changes we’re seeing the contracts, and part of me wonders, and I will say this: I, Steve Yzerman, keeps very close counsel.
There’s not a lot of people who know what he’s thinking, so a lot of us are guessing here, and I will say that. But part of me wondered if maybe Yzerman saw where this was all going and said, ‘It’s time for me. This is not for me.’ And maybe he’ll come right out and say, ‘Elliotte, you just came up with the stupidest theory that anyone has ever come up with.’ But it wouldn’t surprise me if there were some degree of truth in that.”
We know Yzerman has been a hard negotiator when it comes to contracts, not only during his time in Detroit but also as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He wants players set up under a cap structure. Yzerman likes young players brought before paying the big bucks, and the ultimate knock on him was that he was not aggressive enough to turn the Red Wings around.
Some Players on the Detroit Red Wings Feel Steve Yzerman is Too Patient
Yzerman was too patient as a general manager, and it rubbed some of his players the wrong way. Not to mention what he said publicly about his team still being in a rebuild and that their numbers might not be as good as they thought, despite being in first place in the Atlantic Division at the end of January during the 2025-26 season.
There is a reason why Alex DeBrincat, with one year left on his deal, doesn’t have a new extension, and Simon Evidsson doesn’t have a new contract. Yzerman can’t handle the new workings of the NHL. He doesn’t want to give these players the dollars that are being thrown around. So when the book is written, maybe it will come out that this was his decision to step aside and not the organization forcing him aside.
“Like, the League has really changed a lot in a very short time, and it just makes me wonder if he kind of said that where the Red Wings have to go and what this organization is going to have to do, it might not just be decisions that I like, or I’m comfortable with in terms of where the league is headed. So, on some level, I’ve looked at all of this and the timing of this announcement and wondered if that’s part of the conversation,” Friedman added.
Given how things were run the last couple of seasons, it is surprising the announcement didn’t come sooner. Now, all eyes are on Dylan Larkin and on who the Detroit Red Wings hire as the next general manager.
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