The Detroit Red Wings are heading in the right direction and are headed towards the end of the rebuild. With rumors circling, could the return of Steve Yzerman in a front office role finally bring an end to the rebuild?
Earlier this year, former Detroit Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman announced that he was going to step down from his position as General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Assistant General Manager Julien BriseBois will take over the GM role for the Lightning. Yzerman felt that the traveling between Detroit and Tampa Bay was too much, and it was a lot to be flying back and forth consistently.
"According to the Detroit Free Press, Yzerman was quoted as saying he would be “wherever Julien BriseBois needs him” until the 2018-19 season ends, “After that I do not know” said Yzerman."
For the Detroit Red Wings, this means that there is a chance that he could return to a front office role. With Yzerman back home in Detroit, he will have all the time he needs to be the family man that he is longing to be which means that he could possibly take over a front office position. The Hall of Famer could even potentially be the replacement for Red Wings current GM Ken Holland who has one year left on his contract.
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It sure seems like it’s the perfect scenario would be Yzerman taking over after Holland’s contract runs out. With the Detroit Red Wings on pace to get a top draft pick this coming June whether it be Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko, or another top-ranked star it would be great timing for Yzerman to step into an advisory position this summer to help with the draft and then hopefully move into Ken Holland’s role the following year.
If Yzerman were able to get this year off from the job of a General Manager, he would get his time to be the family man he wants to be and then be able to transform back into a front office role on his terms the following year. It seems like it would be perfect timing with a rebuild hopefully on the verge of completion. All of this sounds great, but the question begging to be asked is ‘Why is Steve Yzerman the answer?”
Since 2010, Yzerman has been able to turn around the Lightning organization, including taking them to the Stanley Cup Final in the 2014-2015 season. In addition to taking them to the playoffs in five of the now nine years that he has been at the helm of the front office, including this year as they are in first place and on pace to be in the playoffs.
Besides creating a winning dynamic, Yzerman possesses great skill in building a team itself, he drafted Nikita Kucherov who has become one of the leading goal scorers in the league and Andrei Vasilevskiy who is now their reliable starter.
Besides his drafting ability, he has turned around their goaltending situation by bringing in Ben Bishop, who he later traded to the Dallas Stars. He also strengthened his blue line by bringing in veteran Defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
The point is, he knows how to run an organization, and it sure seems like Yzerman taking over at the end of a rebuild right as we should begin to win again, would do wonders for us. Some of our younger talents should be flourishing, we can only hope that Dylan Larkin will be our steady and reliable captain within the next year.
As Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou grow into seasoned veterans, and Dennis Cholowski continues to grow with the mentorship of an older veteran defenseman like Mike Green, Trevor Daley, and Jonathan Ericsson.
As Detroit Red Wings fans we can only hope that the rebuild is indeed coming to an end, and a return of Yzerman truly gets the Red Wings back into playoff competition.