How the Red Wings will pick their next general manager

Steve Yzerman has been the Red Wings' general manager since April 19, 2019, making him the 6th-longest tenured general manager in the NHL.

No matter your thoughts on Yzerman, sooner or later, they'll need to figure out a succession plan. There will come a time when Yzerman is no longer running the show. When that time comes, someone will need to step in to replace him. The question is whether they promote from within or bring in a more seasoned general manager.

The NHL loves to rotate front office staff between teams. Look at Ken Holland, for example. He was the general manager of the Red Wings for decades before the team brought in Yzerman. He then immediately found a new job with the Edmonton Oilers. Now, he's the general manager of the Los Angeles Kings. He's far from the only one: Lou Lamoriello, Jim Rutherford and even Stan Bowman have continued to land jobs in the NHL.

With the Red Wings' recent struggles, there has been quite a bit of league-wide speculation about whether Yzerman is on the hot seat. The conversation about who would replace him has gained traction. With this in mind, I've decided to add my perspective.

Should Yzerman be promoted or fired?

I'm going to be straight with all of you: I don't see a world where Steve Yzerman gets fired. His ties to the organization and the Illitch family are too close for the family to fire him. The most likely scenario is that he gets promoted to the President of Hockey Operations.

With that in mind, the question remains: who takes over when he's gone? The most obvious answer is Kris Draper. He's been getting groomed to become a general manager for some team in the future. What better place than the Red Wings?

While we give Yzerman a lot of credit for his drafting, it's important to note that Draper is a massive figure in that aspect as well. He's in charge of amateur scouting for years and has done an incredible job. He's a big reason why this team has the likes of Seider, Raymond and Edvinsson. Additionally, he hit a near home run on Emmit Finnie.

Draper understands the team's needs, which is likely why they drafted Carter Bear and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård over their last two drafts. They need size and scoring, and both players do both of those things really well. Draper is the voice you bring in if you're still fully intent on building the team around your draft picks.

Griffins general manager brings experience to the table

Another candidate, Shawn Horcoff, could fit the bill perfectly.. He's the current general manager of the Grand Rapids Griffins, who have set numerous records in the AHL. Their dominant 46-13-4-1 record so far this season is nothing short of impressive. They clinched a playoff spot nearly a month before any other team and just recently clinched their division with a 23-point lead over the second-place team.

It's not unheard of for an AHL general manager to get promoted to the big leagues. Kyle Dubas, the current general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, was the general manager of the Toronto Marlies in the AHL before taking over the Maple Leafs. There is a precedent for organizations promoting AHL executives to the NHL.

Horcoff clearly has a knack for signing free agents that best help his team. Guys like John Leonard, Sheldon Dries, Eduards Tralmaks and Michal Postava have been massive contributors to the Griffins' success, with all of them getting a call-up to the Red Wings at some point this season.

Finding help from the outside

If you're in the camp of building the team up through trades and free agency, then the best option is to grab some fresher eyes. A guy who hasn't been with the organization and won't have the possibility to look at things through rose-tinted glasses. Somebody who doesn't have a problem getting rid of dead weight.

There are a lot of general managers in the pool. The first name that pops into my brain is Brad Treliving; with that said, that's not because I think he's a good general manager, but more because he just got fired from the Toronto Maple Leafs after 3 seasons with the team. After him, however, Doug Armstrong comes to mind.

Armstrong plans on stepping down as general manager of the St. Louis Blues after this season and has one of the best reputations around the league. Not only did he build a Stanley Cup-winning team in 2019, when the Blues came back from last place in the league to win the Cup, he was also the general manager for multiple gold-winning Team Canada squads. He's got a solid track record in trades and drafting.

At the end of the day, none of us know what's going to happen with Yzerman. The likeliest outcome is that he stays right where he is for another season. Having said that, things could get hot for Yzerman if he doesn't make any substantial improvements to the roster.