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:
Dylan Larkin wanting out is a bad look for him and the team. For him, it’s because he’s a homegrown player (Waterford) drafted by the Wings in 2014 (at No. 15) and the captain of the team. He’s three years into a five-year, $69.6 million contract that carries a very favorable $8.7 million salary cap hit for a top-line center that consistently scores 30 goals. It’s also favorable from the standpoint it was front-loaded, so the Wings already have paid $31 million in actual salary.
Larkin, who turns 30 on July 30, has a no-trade clause, and when he submitted his list of teams to where he would accept a trade shorly after the season ended with missing the playoffs for a 10th straight year, it was limited to the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights. Yzerman can listen to any GM, of course, and has heard from Dallas Stars front man Jim Nill, a former longtime Wings player/hockey operations man.
But the Wings know what they have in Larkin − a top-line center − and aren’t looking for future assets in return for a trade. They want value-now players − specifically, first and foremost, a top-line center − and that has stalled a trade. The team lacks depth down the middle, and to subtract Larkin without receiving a center in return would further weaken efforts to make the playoffs this upcoming season.
MLive: Here’s Ansar Khan:
Yzerman said in a statement: “I am sincerely grateful to Chris and the entire Ilitch family. This organization has given me incredible opportunities, from my time as a player to the privilege of returning as general manager. I’ve appreciated every experience throughout the years, and I’m extremely proud to remain part of this great franchise.”
It’s unclear whether Dylan Larkin’s trade request played a role in this move or whether the change will convince Larkin to rescind the request. Larkin and Yzerman have had a fractured relationship.
The timing of the decision is strange, coming just a few weeks after the entry draft and the start of free agency. Yzerman’s most recent media address came during the second day of the draft on June 27, when he said he could not guarantee Larkin would be traded.
Ilitch will lead the search for a new director of hockey operations. The club said both internal and external candidates will be considered.
In the interim, Yzerman will remain in his current role to facilitate the day-to-day of hockey operations and ensure a seamless transition until his successor is named. Yzerman will serve in an advisory capacity on the search committee for a new hockey operations leader; the search committee will also include Ilitch Sports & Entertainment President & CEO, Ryan Gustafson, along with others.
Khan also wondered aloud whether Dylan Larkin might rescind his trade request:
Larkin, who has a full no-movement clause, originally submitted a list of three teams he would agree to join – Florida, Minnesota and Vegas. He since added Dallas to the list.
A move to any of those teams was going to be difficult for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the Red Wings’ desire to get back NHL-ready players, including a top-line center, and those clubs’ reluctance to part with such players.
Yzerman has spoken publicly only once since Larkin asked out, after the draft on June 27 when he said he could not guarantee Larkin would be traded and declined to elaborate on the situation or field questions about the matter.
Losing Larkin without acquiring a comparable player would be a huge setback for the team. He has scored 30 or more goals in each of the past five seasons for a team that ranked 30th in the NHL in five-on-five scoring.
Larkin has an extremely team-friendly contract at a time when salaries are escalating. He has five years remaining at a cap hit of $8.7 million. It was front-loaded, so he has $38.6 million remaining in actual salary — or $7.72 million per season.
Khan has some big questions to ask, too:
Whose decision was this?
The timing suggests it was the club’s decision. Management changes typically happen immediately after the season, but Yzerman continued making decisions and moves through the draft on June 26-27 and the start of free agency on July 1. That is highly unusual. Yzerman also was adamant during his postseason news conference on April 23 that he had unfinished business, saying, “I intend to do my job to the best of my ability, to address the areas of need, and to see this through.”
Did Dylan Larkin’s trade request trigger this move?
Again, the timing suggests it did. Ownership ultimately might have decided it would rather keep its No. 1 center who’s coming off five consecutive 30-goal seasons, than a general manager who has underperformed during seven years on the job.
Who are the internal candidates to replace Yzerman?
Ilitch said in the release that both internal and external candidates will be considered. There are two internal candidates – assistant GMs Shawn Horcoff and Kris Draper. Horcoff, who has held the position longer, is in charge of the Grand Rapids Griffins. Draper is in charge of amateur scouting. Neither has served as an NHL GM. Both were hired/promoted by Yzerman, so it remains to be seen whether Ilitch wants a clean break from this leadership group and hire from outside the organization.
What does this mean for coach Todd McLellan?
McLellan was the second head coach Yzerman hired, after Derek Lalonde, and the third during his tenure, along with holdover Jeff Blashill. McLellan is a well-respected and highly experienced coach with previous stops in San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles. He’s a demanding coach noted for pushing players hard. He had the Red Wings poised to end their playoff drought, near the top of the Eastern Conference in late January, before they faded in March for the fourth year in a row. It’s doubtful the new GM will make a coaching change, especially since options at this stage of the offseason would be thin.
Detroit News: Ted Kulfan offers the following:
Yzerman will remain in his current role to facilitate the day-to-day of hockey operations during the transition, the Wings said in Wednesday’s announcement.
Yzerman will serve in an advisory capacity on the search committee for a new hockey operations leader. The search committee will include Ryan Gustafson, Ilitch Sports & Entertainment president and chief executive officer, among others.
“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.”
How this development will affect the future of captain Dylan Larkin remains to be seen. Larkin asked for a trade after this past season, with his sagging relationship with Yzerman a key reason.
The Red Wings haven’t made the playoffs since 2016, when they lost to Yzerman’s Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the first round. Yzerman was general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2010-19, before returning to the Red Wings as general manager in April 2019.
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan offers GM candidates as well:
▶ Kevyn Adams, Boston Bruins, senior advisor: Adams was just named to his new role this week, so the timing may not work out. But Adams assembled the Buffalo Sabres‘ roster that ended a 14-year playoff drought this season, winning the Atlantic Division. Ironically Adams was fired by Buffalo early in the season, then watched the roster come together and explode the remainder of the season.
▶ Ryan Martin, New York Rangers assistant GM: Martin was an assistant under both Ken Holland and Yzerman with the Wings and is familiar with the organization. Martin oversaw a Grand Rapids team that won two AHL championships and has been a finalist for several GM openings. It’s only a matter of time Martin gets an NHL GM position.
▶ Brandon Pridham, Pittsburgh Penguins, hockey operations consultant: Pridham was just hired by the Penguins earlier this week, by his friend GM Kyle Dubas, so the timing may not work out. Pridham is great with the salary cap, has worked under several management styles in Toronto, and has good relationships with agents and players around the NHL.
▶Jason Spezza, Pittsburgh assistant GM: The long-time player is also part of the current, deep Penguins front office and has long been rumored for jobs around the NHL. Spezza was directly involved in personnel decisions in Toronto and has worked on Team Canada rosters.
Detroit Hockey Now: Here’s Kevin Allen’s take:
According to the Red Wings, Ilitch will lead the search committee and both external and internal candidates will be considered. That would suggest that assistant general manager Kris Draper and Shawn Horcoff, and maybe Nicklas Lidstrom, will be interviewed, although Lidstrom may not consider applying because he might want to stay in Sweden.
Yzerman will stay in his current role while the search will be conducted. He will advise the search committee that will also include Ilitch Sports + Entertainment President & CEO, Ryan Gustafson, along with other leaders.
The change comes after the Red Wings missed the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season and captain Dylan Larkin asked to be traded. It’s unknown whether the change in leadership will have any impact on Larkin’s decision.
Detroit’s playoff drought is the NHL’s longest. Before today’s announcement, Yzerman (2019-2026) had been the first GM in NHL history to miss the playoffs seven years in a row in charge of a team and still keep his job. Before this season, Lynn Patrick of the Boston Bruins (1959-60 through 1964-65) and Yzerman shared that mark with six non-playoff seasons apiece.
Larkin has a no-trade clause in a contract that has five years remaining ($8.7 million), and he has only consented to move to three or four season. Yzerman reportedly would only trade Larkin for players who can help the team now, and not for draft picks and prospects.
The Athletic: Sarah Jean Mayer and Max Bultman offer this:
Yzerman had been in his position since April 2019, when he returned to the only organization he ever played for to take over the hockey operations department.
At that time, the Red Wings were in the early days of a long rebuild, and Yzerman — fresh off a successful stint as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning — was seen as the obvious choice to lead it.
A Hockey Hall of Famer, Yzerman won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings as a player, captaining the team and leading it from an era of darkness in the 1970s and early 1980s into a golden age in the 1990s and early 2000s. The hope was that he could do the same as an executive.
But the organization’s challenges were daunting. During that golden age, which produced a 25-year playoff streak from 1991 through 2016, the Red Wings parted with many draft picks in pursuit of immediate success. As their star players retired or aged out of their primes, they had few top young players left in the organization by the time Yzerman arrived. Their drafting in the first years of the rebuild, under previous GM Ken Holland, compounded that issue.
Early on, fan support for Yzerman was strong. Yzerman’s status as a franchise icon earned him credibility in the market, and his shocking — but successful — first draft pick, Moritz Seider at No. 6 in 2019, fueled their belief in him.
Despite some early successes, the Red Wings struggled to take the rebuild from one phase to another. They bottomed out early in his tenure, as is common for teams looking to accumulate high draft picks, but even when the organizational focus shifted more to contending, the on-ice results stalled.
The Hockey News: Michael Whitaker discussed the situation:
During Yzerman’s tenure, the Red Wings successfully rebuilt a prospect pipeline that was virtually empty when he took over. He also acquired sniper forward Alex DeBrincat via trade and convinced future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane to sign with Detroit.
While last offseason’s acquisition of John Gibson proved to be a pivotal move, not every gamble in net paid off. Yzerman previously traded for goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Ville Husso, though neither ultimately delivered the results the organization had hoped for.
Neither did the 2025 re-acquisition of Petr Mrazek; he was later dealt to Anaheim for Gibson.
At the same time, several of Yzerman’s decisions drew criticism, including the contracts given to J.T. Compher and Andrew Copp, the trade that sent Jake Walman away, and reports that Detroit passed on an opportunity to acquire former Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes.
The Red Wings are also still navigating the fallout from captain Dylan Larkin’s public trade request, and it remains to be seen whether the leadership change will have any impact on that situation.
Shap Shots: Sean Shapiro pulls no punches:
The Red Wings, on the ice, are now and should be Moritz Seider’s and Lucas Raymond’s team. Keeping Larkin around, in my view, is going to limit their ability to grow and take that command.
Whether that’s an in-house candidate figuring that out, like Kris Draper, or an external one, one of my key interview questions if I were in Ilitch’s chair would be, “how do we solve the Larkin trade?”
And that Larkin trade timeline, again in my view, now gets pushed back to whenever the next GM is hired. Yzerman is still handling the “day-to-day,” moves until that happens, but this trade is far from “day-to-day” business.
That likely gums up some timelines for other league activity, or forces some other teams to simply move onto play B if they aren’t patient enough.
Todd McLellan will probably still be the coach in Detroit, I don’t expect the Red Wings to make a change there, but his shelf-life is probably limited depending on whom the next head of operations will be.
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.
ESPN: Greg Wyshynski discusses what’s gone on from an outside perspective:
Yzerman returned to Detroit to restore the luster to the Red Wings, who had missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and hadn’t won a playoff round since 2013, when they still had legends like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on the roster. His stated goal when hired by team president Ken Holland was “getting the team back in contention for Stanley Cups and the championship that is expected in Detroit.”
But the “Yzerplan,” as it was colloquially called, failed to produce a single playoff berth for the Red Wings. The team struggled to develop top prospects into the next generation of star players. Yzerman swung and missed on attempts to acquire star players when they were available, such as former University of Michigan defenseman Quinn Hughes last season.
Things went from bad to worse for Detroit in this offseason, as star captain Dylan Larkin‘s trade request went public. The 29-year-old center grew up a Red Wings fan and has a contract that runs through the 2030-31 season.
Armed with a no-trade clause, Larkin had provided Yzerman with a short list of possible trade destinations. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that issues between Larkin and Detroit management have been brewing for a while, dating back at least to testy contract negotiations in 2023.
On June 27, Yzerman said his “job as the manager of the Detroit Red Wings is always to do what is in the best interest of the Detroit Red Wings, and I will act accordingly to that.”
“I cannot make any guarantees, or did not make any guarantees, that [Larkin’s trade] request could or would be met,” he said at the time.
Just over two weeks later, Yzerman stepped away from his role as the 11th GM in the Original Six team’s history.
NHL.com: NHL.com posted an author-uncredited article:
The Red Wings have now missed the postseason for 10 consecutive seasons after a team-record 25 straight appearances that’s third in NHL history behind the Bruins (29) and Chicago Blackhawks (28).
“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.”
The next Red Wings GM will have to figure out how to get the team back to the postseason and if forward Dylan Larkin will be a part of it. The 29-year-old center and Detroit captain requested a trade after last season, which became public knowledge June 4. He has five seasons left on an eight-year, $69.6 million contract (average annual value of $8.7 million) he signed March 1, 2023, and Yzerman indicated he didn’t feel pressured to grant the request and would be comfortable retaining Larkin if the right trade did not materialize.
Larkin, a gold medalist with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, scored an NHL career-high 34 goals last season, second on Detroit behind Alex DeBrincat (41), and had 67 points in 74 games. The native of Waterford, Michigan, has 643 points (276 goals, 367 assists) in 808 regular-season games but one Stanley Cup Playoff appearance, a five-game loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2016 Eastern Conference First Round.
The Red Wings on July 1 signed Viktor Arvidsson to a two-year, $10 million contract (average annual value of $5 million) hoping to bolster an offense that averaged 2.91 goals per game last season (22nd in the NHL) with the addition of the 33-year-old forward who had 54 points (25 goals, 29 assists) in 69 games for the Boston Bruins.
