The Yzerplan is over, so what comes next in Detroit?
In some stunning, but not so stunning news, Steve Yzerman is out as GM of the Red Wings.
It’s both the most and least surprising news at the same time.
Steve Yzerman is out as the Detroit Red Wings general manager.
It’s unsurprising because in the short-lived world of NHL general managers, eight seasons without a playoff appearance is easily grounds for dismissal. In fact, for most organizations, three or four years without a playoff appearance are grounds for getting sacked.
But it’s stunning that Yzerman, who I felt had the longest rope of any executive in hockey history, was ultimately axed after what he’s meant to the franchise.
And to be clear, this is a demotion by promotion. Yzerman is technically going to still be with the organization working as a “senior advisor to Governor and CEO, Chris Ilitch,” according to the team press release. It’s corporate movement in the sports world, doing your best to save face by adjusting titles, but effectively cutting out any real responsibility.
Ilitch even admits as much, vaguely, in the press release with these types of statements.
"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,” said Ilitch. “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.”
It’s firing a franchise icon 101, protect the image of the man and the No. 19 that hangs in the rafters, but rip out the roots of what’s happened to hockey operations for a once proud franchise.
The Yzerplan is dead, and this morning, Larkin is the equivalent of Javier Bardem walking away from the exploding car to go rob the pharmacy in No Country for Old Men.
I think we should start with Larkin, because while his relationship with Yzerman was icy, at best, this doesn’t rescind the trade request. In fact, barring a major kumbaya moment, which I’m not sure is possible, the next GM has to figure out how to best land the ship on that trade for the future of the franchise.
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.
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.
Can the next GM, deliver on this comment from the owner?
“Clearly, we are not where we and our fans expect to be as an organization” said Ilitch. “I’m looking forward to bringing in new leadership to build the championship-caliber organization Hockeytown deserves.”
That’s a question that, frankly, we all will be watching closely.