Yzerman out as Red Wings GM, but questions remain

Steve Yzerman is headed out as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, and the questions go far beyond who will be the next GM.

Most importantly, how much influence will Yzerman have on hockey operations in the future? Will Detroit keep aiming for the Stanley Cup Playoffs or start over with another rebuild? Will the Red Wings try to keep captain Dylan Larkin? How does this affect his trade request?

The Red Wings announced Wednesday that Yzerman is transitioning from his role as executive vice president and GM. He will become senior advisor to governor and CEO Chris Ilitch.

They will begin a search to find their "next leader of hockey operations" and consider internal and external candidates. Yzerman will remain in his current role and advise the search committee until his successor is named.

"Clearly, we are not where we and our fans expect to be as an organization," Ilitch said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to bringing in new leadership to build the championship-caliber organization Hockeytown deserves."

Detroit improved steadily but slowly during Yzerman's tenure. In the end, it wasn't enough.

After making the playoffs for 25 straight seasons from 1991-2016 and winning the Stanley Cup in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008, the Red Wings were in decline when they hired their legendary former captain as GM on April 19, 2019.

They bottomed out in his first season with a .275 points percentage. They progressed each of the next four seasons -- .429, .451, .488, .555 -- before taking a step back at .524 in 2024-25.

Last season, they posted their best points percentage under Yzerman, .561, but still missed the playoffs, extending their playoff drought to 10 seasons, the longest in their 100-year history.

They collapsed down the stretch for the third straight season. They struggled to score 5-on-5 and weren't hard to play against.

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.

Yzerman indicated June 27 that he would not trade Larkin without receiving what he felt was an appropriate return.

"My job as the manager of the Detroit Red Wings is always to do what is in the best interest of the Detroit Red Wings, and I will act accordingly to that," Yzerman said. "I cannot make any guarantees, or did not make any guarantees, that that request could or would be met."

That makes sense. The problem is, with Larkin's status in limbo, there is too much uncertainty surrounding the Red Wings. How do they move forward until the situation is resolved? How do players decide whether to sign or re-sign with them?

Now everything is in limbo. Detroit is at a crossroads.

Was this ownership's decision, Yzerman's or a combination? How much did the Larkin situation play into it? Was it at least a catalyst?

Although the Red Wings say they are looking for a new leader of hockey ops, Yzerman will remain in the organization. Will he loom over hockey ops, or will the new leader have full control? Can they hire an internal candidate to make the change they need, or would they be better off with a fresh outside perspective?

Do they keep trying to make the playoffs? Do they try to convince Larkin to stay and surround him with more talent? Is he receptive to staying in that scenario, and if not, do they try to trade him for a package that helps them now?

Or do they decide they need to start over to accumulate the talent necessary to win a championship someday? Do they trade Larkin for futures they can use to start another rebuild? After a decade out of the playoffs, would the fans have the patience to endure more pain?

Yzerman will remain a hero in Detroit forever. People obviously will never forget what he did as a player, and they shouldn't forget that he left the Lightning, a Cup contender he built, to try to return his former team to glory. It just didn't work out.

His tenure as a GM eventually will become a footnote. When people remember Alex Delvecchio and Ted Lindsay in Detroit, they remember their Hockey Hall of Fame playing careers. They don't think about how each served stints as GM when the Red Wings struggled in the 1970s.

The Red Wings need a change. It remains to be seen exactly what it will be.