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The Yzerplan has officially failed in Detroit.
On Wednesday morning, the Detroit Red Wings announced a sudden leadership change, with general manager Steve Yzerman stepping down and moving to a senior advisor role. Yzerman has been the Red Wings general manager since 2019, but the team now searches for a new person to fill that role with the NHL legend's surprising departure from the position.
In Detroit's statement about the news, team governor and CEO Chris Ilitch spoke on the state of the franchise, which missed the playoffs every season of Yzerman's tenure and have not made the postseason since 2015-16.
“Clearly, we are not where we and our fans expect to be as an organization” Ilitch said. “I’m looking forward to bringing in new leadership to build the championship-caliber organization Hockeytown deserves.”
With the offseason fully underway, the news surprised many in the hockey world who were enjoying their long summers. While Yzerman's job security had been in question for some time now, his departure coming after the draft and the start of free agency is certainly curious. While no reason has officially been given as to why Yzerman has stepped down, there are a few interesting points to consider given the timing of his departure.
Larkin reported requested a trade from the Red Wings in early June to the surprise of many. It's quite rare to see a young captain of a hockey team want to move on from his club, but given the lack of success the Red Wings have enjoyed since Larkin entered the league, it makes sense.
However, Larkin has a no-trade clause, which means Yzerman and the Red Wings couldn't just send their captain to whichever team had the best package. But with Yzerman stepping down, does this start to repair things with Larkin and possibly take him off the trade market? It's not known what kind of relationship Yzerman and Larkin had, but him vacating the general manager role could point towards the Red Wings hoping to make things right with their captain.
Under Yzerman, the Red Wings did not make the playoffs once. At the end of the day, that's really the long and short of it.
Yes, Detroit's situation was always going to be difficult to fix. After one of the NHL's longest consecutive postseason appearance streaks and four Stanley Cups during that time, Detroit did not have a new generation of talent waiting in the wings. Despite drafting some good talent like Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, Yzerman's rebuild process had no big wins that moved the needle out of the muddy middle
Yzerman also was not the most active general manager either, which was at odds with the position the franchise was in. Famously, Larkin even spoke out about the lack of movement at the 2025 trade deadline in his end-of-season media availability.
“It was hard that we didn’t do anything," Larkin said. "And then I felt the group kind of — we didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline and guys were kind of down about it. It’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well.”
Could Yzerman's firing be the morale boost the Red Wings need? Only time will tell.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why did Steve Yzerman suddenly step down as Red Wings’ GM?
Continue reading...
On Wednesday morning, the Detroit Red Wings announced a sudden leadership change, with general manager Steve Yzerman stepping down and moving to a senior advisor role. Yzerman has been the Red Wings general manager since 2019, but the team now searches for a new person to fill that role with the NHL legend's surprising departure from the position.
In Detroit's statement about the news, team governor and CEO Chris Ilitch spoke on the state of the franchise, which missed the playoffs every season of Yzerman's tenure and have not made the postseason since 2015-16.
“Clearly, we are not where we and our fans expect to be as an organization” Ilitch said. “I’m looking forward to bringing in new leadership to build the championship-caliber organization Hockeytown deserves.”
With the offseason fully underway, the news surprised many in the hockey world who were enjoying their long summers. While Yzerman's job security had been in question for some time now, his departure coming after the draft and the start of free agency is certainly curious. While no reason has officially been given as to why Yzerman has stepped down, there are a few interesting points to consider given the timing of his departure.
Dylan Larkin's bombshell trade request
Larkin reported requested a trade from the Red Wings in early June to the surprise of many. It's quite rare to see a young captain of a hockey team want to move on from his club, but given the lack of success the Red Wings have enjoyed since Larkin entered the league, it makes sense.
However, Larkin has a no-trade clause, which means Yzerman and the Red Wings couldn't just send their captain to whichever team had the best package. But with Yzerman stepping down, does this start to repair things with Larkin and possibly take him off the trade market? It's not known what kind of relationship Yzerman and Larkin had, but him vacating the general manager role could point towards the Red Wings hoping to make things right with their captain.
The Yzerplan just took too long to unfold
Under Yzerman, the Red Wings did not make the playoffs once. At the end of the day, that's really the long and short of it.
Yes, Detroit's situation was always going to be difficult to fix. After one of the NHL's longest consecutive postseason appearance streaks and four Stanley Cups during that time, Detroit did not have a new generation of talent waiting in the wings. Despite drafting some good talent like Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, Yzerman's rebuild process had no big wins that moved the needle out of the muddy middle
Yzerman also was not the most active general manager either, which was at odds with the position the franchise was in. Famously, Larkin even spoke out about the lack of movement at the 2025 trade deadline in his end-of-season media availability.
“It was hard that we didn’t do anything," Larkin said. "And then I felt the group kind of — we didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline and guys were kind of down about it. It’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well.”
Could Yzerman's firing be the morale boost the Red Wings need? Only time will tell.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why did Steve Yzerman suddenly step down as Red Wings’ GM?
Continue reading...
