Yzerman Out as Red Wings GM

The Detroit Red Wings announced a “leadership transition” on Wednesday that sees Steve Yzerman out of his roles as Executive Vice President and General Manager.

An update from the Detroit Red Wings.

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Yzerman will remain with the organization as a senior advisor.

This path is similar to the one the Red Wings took in 2019 when then-general manager Ken Holland was ousted and replaced by Yzerman, with Holland “promoted” out of the lead hockey operations role. Holland left Detroit to join the Edmonton Oilers just weeks later.

The timing of this move is certainly interesting. Most teams that move on from their general managers choose to do so early in the offseason, giving incoming leadership time to remake the organization. In this case, Yzerman and his staff ran the draft and early free agency before being moved out.

The move is only a surprise because of Yzerman’s status as a legendary player for the team. Detroit hasn’t made the playoffs for ten years and their captain – from the Detroit area – has asked for a trade out. It’s a situation that would cost most GMs their job.

I’ll be honest, I have no idea who should replace Yzerman as general manager.

I come back to the timing. Can Detroit pry someone away from another organization in the middle of the summer? These are the kind of moves that need to happen in April, not July.

Unless adding the “President of Hockey Operations” title is a promotion, they’re probably not getting another team’s current GM. Which means they’re looking at assistant General Managers. And we can’t rule out an internal hire like Kris Draper, though I think it’s time for the organization to clean house.