The Captain is coming home. Steve Yzerman has re-joined the Detroit Red Wings.
Owner Christopher Ilitch today announced that Yzerman has been named Executive Vice President and General Manager responsible for all hockey operations and that Ken Holland has been promoted to Senior Vice President and will serve as a senior advisor to hockey operations.
“This is a truly exciting day for the Detroit Red Wings, we are thrilled to welcome Steve Yzerman back to Hockeytown,” said Ilitch. “Steve has produced tremendous results as a General Manager in the National Hockey League, as well as an executive in international competition. He is a smart, driven, competitive and determined executive with outstanding leadership skills, as demonstrated both over his playing and management careers. Steve and Ken have proven to be two of the most successful general managers of their era, and to have Steve leading our hockey operations and Ken providing valued support is a tremendous advantage for our organization. I believe we took a strong management team and made it even stronger today.”
“I’m extremely honored to be named General Manager of the Red Wings,” said Yzerman. “I’m very grateful to the Ilitches, both for their support when I left to become General Manager of the Lightning, and for their kindness in welcoming my family and me back to the organization. I’d also like to thank Ken Holland. I was fortunate to learn the management side of the game from Jim Devellano, Ken and others in the Red Wings organization for four seasons after I retired, and I’m very happy to have the opportunity to work alongside them once again. It was very humbling to be approached about returning home to become General Manager, and I’m looking forward to building on the exciting young core Ken has already put in place.”
Yzerman returns to the Red Wings as just the 11th individual to serve as General Manager of the team after spending 27 seasons with the organization as a player (1983-06) and within the hockey operations department (2006-10). From 2010-18, Yzerman served as Vice President and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, transitioning to an advisory role prior to the 2018-19 season. Under his guidance, the Lightning have become one of the NHL’s model franchises for building a Stanley Cup contender through drafting and development.
Yzerman drafted or signed a core of players which includes Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point and Andrei Vasilevskiy and secured the likes of Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos and Kucherov with long-term, team-friendly contracts. Yzerman also bolstered the team with several high-profile trades, including Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller and Mikhail Sergachev, culminating in a 2018-19 campaign which saw the Lightning tying the NHL record for wins in a season (62), matched by only the 1995-96 Red Wings team.