5 afternoon news stories regarding Steve Yzerman’s ‘departure’ from the GM’s chair

Of Red Wings and Steve Yzerman-related note this afternoon:

  1. NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika discussed the Red Wings’ decision to relieve Steve Yzerman’s duties as general manager:

Long story short: The Red Wings needed patience when Yzerman was hired, and people were willing to be patient for a while. They needed to rebuild. Yzerman had credibility because of his successful background as a player in Detroit and as an executive with the Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Hockey Canada.

But the Red Wings didn’t accumulate enough talent under Yzerman. They added young stars in forward Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, but they needed more difference-makers. They were unlucky in the NHL Draft Lottery, never selecting in the top three, and Yzerman couldn’t find solutions.

As time went on, Yzerman was too patient, and others ran out of patience. After the 2024-25 season, Larkin made headlines when he said the Red Wings didn’t gain momentum from the NHL Trade Deadline. After the 2025-26 season, Larkin shocked the hockey world by requesting a trade.

Continue reading 5 afternoon news stories regarding Steve Yzerman’s ‘departure’ from the GM’s chair

The view from Minnesota

The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith weigh in regarding the Minnesota Wild’s pursuit of Dylan Larkin from the Wild’s perspective:

The No. 1 center search was supposed to be the centerpiece of what’s turned into a pretty concerning offseason for the Wild. Their big additions up front were Blake Coleman and Russian winger Maxim Shabanov, whom they’re betting on as top-six options. They had to replace 150 combined points among the departures of Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson and Vladimir Tarasenko. The Wild basically swapped Jake Middleton for Olli Maatta on their third defensive pair.

All that would be well and good if Minnesota still landed a top-flight center such as Larkin, the type of star the Wild believe would strengthen their long-term pitch to Quinn Hughes. For now, those extension talks continue.

The Wild still believe they have one major thing working in their favor: Larkin’s desire to come to Minnesota hasn’t changed. That doesn’t mean Detroit has to trade him anytime soon. In fact, Wednesday’s news probably gives the organization every reason to see if a new front office can convince its captain to stay.

But the problem for now, from Minnesota’s perspective at least, is there are no real Plan B options out there up the middle. The Wild passed on the price for Trocheck, who was acquired by the division-rival Utah Mammoth for defenseman Sean Durzi, prospect Cole Beaudoin and a third-round pick in 2027. Utah also snagged Minnesota’s top free-agent target, Edina legend Anders Lee.

That’s why Wednesday’s news is so significant from the Wild’s perspective. They didn’t merely miss on centers this summer. They intentionally waited. They passed on opportunities because they believed there was still a realistic path to acquiring the player they wanted most. Whether that gamble ultimately pays off remains to be seen. But Yzerman’s resignation almost certainly means the Wild are going to have to wait even longer to find out.

Continued (paywall); so the Wild wait, as do the Red Wings, for a resolution to this situation.

Niyo: Yzerman leaves the GM’s chair with Detroit needing to reassess the organization (again)

The Detroit News’s John Niyo weighs in regarding the Red Wings’ decision to relieve Steve Yzerman of his duties as GM, promoting Yzerman to an advisor to CEO Chris Ilitch. Niyo argues that the Larkin stalemate is what cost Yzerman his job:

Whatever the reasons, though, the resulting standoff — as Larkin, the homegrown star, used his contractual no-movement rights as leverage and Yzerman apparently held firm to his own trade demands with other NHL GMs — left the Red Wings in a seemingly intractable spot.

Whether Yzerman’s pending exit as GM will change any of that remains to be seen. I wouldn’t bet on a quick resolution, for what it’s worth. Ilitch said he’s “looking forward to bringing in new leadership to build the championship-caliber organization Hockeytown deserves,” but Yzerman will remain in his current role running the day-to-day hockey operations until his successor is named. And the next obvious inflection point really isn’t until training camp in September.

Beyond that, there’s still much more to be figured out here, including a new contract for another young cornerstone piece, defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who’s a restricted free agent, and a possible extension for Alex DeBrincat, a 40-goal scorer whose interest in re-signing could hinge on what happens next with Larkin.

There’s still time to resolve that this summer, obviously. But, clearly, the urgency reached a breaking point here in recent weeks. And if you were listening closely back in late April, Yzerman actually admitted that might be the case as he talked about the self-assessment that comes necessarily, if not naturally, in a situation like this.

“I think everything has to be assessed, how we do things,” Yzerman said. “It would be ignorant to not really have an in-depth look at our team, at our organization, for sure. Do we need major shake-ups? Maybe, maybe not.”

Continued (paywall); Niyo duly notes that the Wings still need a shake-up of a sort–in terms of results, which is gonna take time.

The natural order vs. the blame game

As far as I’m concerned, the Yzerplan or the lack thereof just ran its natural course.

The GM did his best to build a set of players and young prospects who could compete at a high level–after first having to tear down the remnants of Ken Holland’s late-tenure rebuild.

To some extent, the Wings succeeded in building a big prospect pool. To some extent, the Wings got “close” to the playoffs a couple of times.

They needed better coaching, and it took a few times to get their coaches right.

They needed better players, and the team worked on it, at least, with some successes and some failures.

And the team needed better performances as a collective, and that’s where they struggled, for whatever reason.

I believe that they’ve got the right coaching staff, they’re getting to having the right players thanks to the prospect pool, and that, should they trade Dylan Larkin for good assets, they’re going to at least be building toward a strong roster.

But Yzerman’s managerial style was getting stale, between his stubbornness in terms of hanging onto players and his stubbornness in terms of not being able to sign free agents or re-sign exiting players (the loss of Shayne Gostisbehere strikes me as particularly crippling), so it was just time to make a change.

The Hockey News’s Ryan Lambert is a long-time critic of everything Red Wings-related, so he’s gloating today, and blaming the Wings’ decision to build around a Dylan Larkin that Lambert feels just wasn’t a building block = why the “Yzerplan” failed.

Continue reading The natural order vs. the blame game

‘Tear down this wall’

The multi-talented Sean Shapiro posted a couple of paragraphs regarding a certain organization’s inability or unwillingness to speak with the media and/or fans during a certain GM’s tenure, and while I never said this out loud, I have been thinking it since Ken Holland left the organization:

On another front, I’m fascinated to see what this does to the culture of the Red Wings, and how open/friendly the organization is going forward. Yzerman kept things locked down to an extreme level, outside of the head coach and himself, no one from hockey operations was ever available to the media. There were also in-house limitations on the Red Wings public relations and content teams that no other team in the league had to deal with, it’s something I’ve personally witnessed in my role, and while there were never complaints from those people, you could see how the ethos from the top made their job more difficult.

For those people, and fan access to the team, this news should make their job easier, and I’m a firm believer that the GM truly sets the tone of how much an organization is and isn’t willing to live in a new media world.

That matters to me, obviously, because I’d love my job to be easier, and I’d love for the Red Wings to be more like the Dallas Stars, where the GM actually encourages members of his staff to be interviewed for stories, but for any Detroit fans, only one thing really matters.

Continued (paywall); Yzerman just didn’t make himself available to the media, which is one thing…

The fact that the Horcoff, Draper, Yawney, Tanguay, etc. couldn’t talk to the media as Yzerman’s emissaries made things particularly difficult…

And there is a wall between franchise and fan base right now. There really is, and it’s got to change.

The beat writers weigh in on the Yzerman transition

Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman is GM no more, transitioning to the role of senior advisor to CEO and governor Chris Ilitch.

Here are some thoughts from the Wings’ beat writers, and elsewhere:

Detroit Free Press: Helene St. James weighs in…

Yzerman has been Red Wings GM since April 19, 2019. A search for a new head of hockey operations is underway.

It is a stunning but yet not entirely surprising development. Yzerman has struggled to restore the franchise to elite status, and this offseason has been marred by the Wings’ captain, Dylan Larkin, requesting a trade.

Kris Draper and Sean Horcoff have been Yzerman’s assistant general managers of the past couple years.

“Steve’s lifetime of contributions to the Red Wings has meant more to this franchise than words can truly express, and I have the highest level of respect for his continued commitment to our organization,” Ilitch said. “We are thankful for Steve’s hard work and dedication as General Manager and are grateful knowing Steve will remain where he belongs — here with the Red Wings family.”   

And St. James discusses the unresolved Larkin situation:

Continue reading The beat writers weigh in on the Yzerman transition

Tweet of note: Chris Chelios claims that Patrick Kane’s deciding between Buffalo and Chicago

Take this Tweet from CHGO Sports for what you will:

Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins sign Tag Bertuzzi to 1-year contract

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS SIGN TAG BERTUZZI TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins signed forward Tag Bertuzzi to a one-year contract for the 2026-27 season.   

Bertuzzi, a six-year pro, competed in 14 games last season with the AHL’s Utica Comets in addition to showing 31 points (16-15—31) and 23 penalty minutes in 38 outings with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder. Throughout parts of four AHL campaigns from 2022-26, the 25-year-old has one assist and six penalty minutes in 30 appearances split between the Charlotte Checkers (2022-23), Hartford Wolf Pack (2023-24), Belleville Senators (2023-24) and Utica (2024-26). At the ECHL level, Bertuzzi has produced 130 points (62-68—130) and 99 penalty minutes in 170 regular-season games since 2022-23. The Vancouver, British Columbia, native had his best season in 2022-23 in the ECHL when he posted a career-high 52 points (24-28—52) in 64 contests. Bertuzzi is the younger cousin of former Griffin and Detroit Red Wing Tyler Bertuzzi, and the son of former Red Wing Todd Bertuzzi.

Prior to turning pro, Bertuzzi spent four seasons in the OHL with the Guelph Storm (2017-19), Hamilton Bulldogs (2018-20) and Flint Firebirds (2021-22). Throughout 191 career OHL appearances, the 6-foot-1 forward accumulated 112 points (53-59—112) and 98 penalty minutes, adding nine points (5-4—9) in 20 postseason games. He had his best junior season in 2019-20 with Hamilton when he tallied 47 points (25-22—47) in 57 games.