Stubbornness stifled ‘Stevie Y’

The Detroit News’s Bob Wojnowski suggests that Red Wings advisor and former GM Steve Yzerman was relieved of his duties as general manager today because he was unable to keep up with the evolution of the NHL.

Wojnowski argues that Yzerman was too stubborn as the NHL evolved into a league in which players have more “say” in their playing futures, and, as such, he was unable to manage his now-disgruntled captain’s demand for the team to add “help” to the roster. As such, the Wings missed the playoffs these past two seasons, they did not improve substantially personnel-wise, and Larkin asked to leave:

[Dylan] Larkin had his own hammer [in terms of forcing Yzerman’s hand], a no-movement clause that effectively blunted Yzerman’s power. When Larkin offered a list of only three teams he’d agree to, Yzerman knew it would be difficult to win the deal, and said there was no guarantee he’d honor the request. He had a valuable asset, a productive center on a team-friendly contract, and wasn’t surrendering it for draft picks and youngsters.

Yzerman dug in. Larkin dug in. The Wings made modest moves, acquiring rugged forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Keegan Kolesar, but couldn’t revamp further without settling the Larkin issue.

With training camp less than two months away, someone had to break. And maybe that someone was [Christopher] Ilitch, whose team was being bashed for the mess. You could argue it makes sense now to trade Larkin for picks and prospects and relaunch the rebuild. You also could argue it might make sense for Larkin to rescind his request and make amends with his hometown team.

The Wings are in better shape than when Yzerman arrived, but not nearly the shape many envisioned. Yzerman’s unwavering hockey beliefs served him well as a player and as an executive in Tampa, and his credentials in those situations are unblemished. But in the league’s shifting landscape, his principles are framed as stubbornness, and fewer people want to play his way.

He couldn’t make deals, not big bold deals, and he couldn’t deal with it. Or he didn’t want to deal with it anymore. Obviously something had to change, and if Yzerman couldn’t, the Wings had no choice.

Continued (paywall)…”Wojo” is always worth your time…

Today, the Red Wings begin the next chapter in their evolution

I’ve had to bite my tongue today as the sports talk radio jocks and Twitter/X trolls alike express giddiness about the supposedly sorry state of the Red Wings after the team relieved Steve Yzerman of his general manager’s duties.

I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised at how many Red Wings fans and Detroit media types seem to enjoy wallowing in the mud that is believed to be the state of the team–the outsiders, I get, but this whole concept that the team is somehow at rock bottom simply because the GM’s been moved into an advisory role, and that this state should be celebrated.

I just don’t get that.

There are the building blocks of a rebuild still present in Detroit’s coaching staff, prospects, and players like Moritz (the next captain) Seider and Lucas Raymond. The Wings can still manage to achieve an acceptable return for Dylan Larkin, with whom I believe the team’s relationship is irreparably harmed.

And the next GM–whoever that may be–should be empowered to make more aggressive moves in order to acquire talent and accentuate/reinforce the Red Wings’ younger, more aggressive core with more aggressive moves.

Ultimately, what I said would happen happened–Steve Yzerman served as the Red Wings’ general manager at the pleasure of Christopher and Marian Ilitch, and he was not relieved of his duties until the Red Wings’ ownership began to doubt Yzerman’s ability to build upon the foundational blocks that already exist in the Wings’ rebuilding process.

He served at the pleasure of the ownership, and the ownership was not pleased enough with the job he was doing, so his role as the team’s GM has reached its conclusion.

Yes, the team has a long way to go, and yes, it’s entirely possible that, once Dylan Larkin is traded, they’ll take a step back this upcoming season. But I really do believe that the team has the coaching and leadership necessary to change its culture–to become more determined to deliver consistent play, and to play with more speed and grit on a regular basis–and I believe that there are brighter days ahead.

We may have to wait a bit for them, but the team is charging its fans too much money for tickets, merchandise, and now their in-house broadcasting network to simply blow it all up and restart from scratch.

That’s my bottom line, and it’s incredibly important to get the Larkin trade as close to “right” (even if that means “losing with dignity”) for starters…

But we are all along for the ride at this point, and it is my hope that the Red Wings’ ownership and front office, advisor Steve Yzerman included, help the Wings find the right GM for this time in their evolution.

That’s all we can really hope for right now–a brighter beginning to a new chapter in the team’s history, so this historical franchise can start making some lasting memories for its players and fans in the present and in the future.

FYI: Marco Kasper’s training in Klagenfurt, Austria, and sessions are open to the public

According to both 5’Min.at and Orf.at, Red Wings forward Marco Kasper will be training at his hometown rink, Klagenfurt, Austria’s Heidi Horten Arena, starting today, as Yannick Dube’s skills camp continues at the home of KAC Klagenfurt.

J.J. Peterka, Philipp Sinn, Danjo Leonhardt and Maksymilian Szuber are some of the players who are attending the skills camp. According to both websites, the sessions are open to the public.

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.