Detroit Red Wings

The Dylan Larkin show concludes tonight...

 

Good luck. May the better team win.



And, let's hope that Buffalo is the better team tonight!

 

Ouch! That hurt, but I like the kids...

 

3 pm today, Stevie Y and Ken Holland to address the media.

 

Wow, I wonder what that's all about?

 

Not sure, sounds interesting.

 

Wow... Check this shit out !



The Detroit Red Wings will introduce Steve Yzerman as their new general manager this afternoon, a source confirmed to MLive.

Ken Holland, the club’s GM since 1997, will remain as the team’s senior vice president.

The Red Wings have announced a news conference for 3 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena with team president and CEO Chris Ilitch, Yzerman and Holland.

Yzerman, 53, had been the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning since 2010 before abruptly announcing just prior to the 2018-19 season that he was stepping aside with one year remaining on his contract so that he could spend more time with his family, which remained in Detroit. He served as a consultant to the Lightning until their season ended this week with a first-round sweep against Columbus.

Holland, 63, had one year remaining on his contract as GM.

Yzerman was the longest-serving captain in NHL history, for 20 seasons from 1987 until his retirement in 2006. He played 22 seasons for the franchise and is its second leading scorer all-time with 1,755 points (692 goals, 1,063 assists in 1,514 games). He won three Stanley Cups as a player. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

He remained with the Red Wings for four seasons following his retirement, serving as an assistant to Holland as the team’s vice president.

Yzerman is credited for making several moves to help turn the Lightning into an immediate Stanley Cup contender. The team reached the conference final during his first season in Tampa Bay and qualified for the playoffs five times in his eight years as GM but didn’t win the Cup.

Yzerman also served as Team Canada’s executive director in 2010 and 2014, assembling teams that won the Olympic gold medals both years.

Holland addressed his future on April 8 following the team photo and locker clean-out, saying he planned to continue being the GM until told otherwise.

Holland came to the Red Wings in 1983 as a minor league goaltender and joined the front office as a Western Canada scout two years later. He worked his way up as the team’s amateur scouting director and assistant GM before being promoted to general manager in July 1997, a month after the Red Wings ended a 42-year Stanley Cup championship drought.

The Red Wings won three more Cups during Holland’s tenure as GM (1998, 2002 and 2008) and reached the playoffs during his first 18 seasons in that capacity, extending their postseason streak to 25 seasons, which was the longest of the four major professional sports leagues until being broken in 2017. The Red Wings, under Holland, won 10 division titles and four Presidents’ Trophies. (per, MLIVE)

 

That's a step in the right direction

 

On the 19th day, 2019, #19 is back !!!

 

Yzerman doesn't think you can 'build a team through free agency'
Red Wings GM discusses replacing Holland, the 2019 Draft, Kronwall with NHL.com...

BOSTON -- Steve Yzerman was not surprised when Ken Holland left the Detroit Red Wings to become general manager of the Edmonton Oilers.

But he didn't expect it to happen so quick.

On April 19, Yzerman was named executive vice president and GM of the Red Wings and Holland, who had encouraged the move, was promoted to senior vice president and was to serve as a senior adviser to hockey operations after completing his 22nd season as GM.

On May 7, Holland was by the Oilers.

"I was looking forward to work with him," Yzerman said. "I really enjoy being around him, talking hockey with him, listening to his rationale, how he manages situations. I was really looking forward to that. But I know -- we talked about it -- he loves managing. He has a burning desire to do it.

"I think things happened very quickly, more quickly than even he expected. And I'm happy for him that he's happy."

In a recent wide-ranging discussion with NHL.com, Yzerman elaborated on life without Holland in Detroit, why he doesn't think teams can be built via free agency, and the future of veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall.

You consider Ken Holland a mentor. What kind of legacy has he left on the Red Wings organization?

"At the end of the day, I understood where he's coming from. Mostly, he's happy about his move so we're all pleased for him. In the Detroit organization, he's done so much for us. Not only building Stanley Cup teams, all of us who have worked with him, he's been a friend, a father figure, a professional adviser to us all, and he's looked out for us all. We're all grateful for everything he's done for us and we're going to miss him."

Holland always stressed the importance of the NHL Draft, as did you when you were GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning. You have the No. 6 pick in the 2019 Draft, how key is it to hit on this selection?

"The Draft is so important. You have to acquire your talent some way. To do it through unrestricted free agency, you're not going to build a team that way. At least I don't think you can build a team that way. How you do it is acquire the young talent and try to develop them. I think we're fortunate to have a small core of the [Dylan] Larkins, the [Anthony] Manthas, the [Tyler] Bertuzzis coming. There's the foundation there and we have to add to it. They're all good young players."

Judging by those comments, should we not expect a big splash from the Red Wings in free agency?

"I've never used free agency to make a splash. I like when people use that term. I'm not trying to make a big splash, I'm trying to build a good team. And I don't think you can build a team through free agency. But collectively and selectively, you can improve your team."

Speaking of Mantha, he had a great performance for Canada at the 2019 IIHF World Championship with 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in nine games. How big was that for his confidence heading into 2019-20?

'It was great, good for him. I thought all the Detroit players did really well in the tournament. Was happy to see them go and to all play well. For Anthony Mantha, I thought he progressed as he went on this past season. He finished the regular season strong as did all the young players did in Detroit. Now to go over to the Worlds to play with and against some of the best players in the world, I think it's a big confidence boost to play against these guys. I think it's a stepping stone to bigger and better things."

Kronwall has not yet decided if he is going to retire. Have you heard anything from him?

"He's going to take some time. We'll get a decision from him one way or the other. I'm in no rush. I'm not putting any pressure on him or feel the need to put undue pressure on him. Take all the time that you want and make a decision. We're prepared. At this time, we can plan moving forward with him and without him. Free agency starts July 1, and I don't know if free agency even has an impact on whether he stays or not. We still have got to do what we've got to do. Obviously, there's cap space and a roster spot to consider, but we've got plenty of time to do that. We'll just wait and when [Kronwall's] comfortable announcing any decision, he'll let us know. I thought he played well last year. On and off the ice he'd be a welcome addition back."

You've been on the job in Detroit for about six weeks. How has the transition gone?

"Just a lot of new faces in the organization since I left, so trying to get to know people. It's June. It's the busiest time of year for teams whether you're playing or not -- behind the scenes, getting ready for the Draft, getting things in place. So when a new manager comes in, there's a lot of things to be done. It was a similar process when I went to Tampa. You go in, you're relatively unknown to a lot of people. It's the same process."

Finally, what is your goal for the Red Wings in 2019-20?

"Improvement. Looking on and off the ice in a lot of areas for it, and hopefully it's reflected in the standings. But it may not." - NHL.com

 

That last sentence, "But it may not." ------Stevie Y is a smart man, gotta give yourself an out in a situation like this. I read that as improvement coming but let's be cautious, fans may or may not see the improvements at first.

 

Yup, until you live through this as a fan, it's hard to appreciate how hard it is the rebuild. From the outside looking at a team like Buffalo it would be easy to say "yeah, they're just a bunch of f#€k ups!" (And the Sabres have f#€ked up a lot - but that's because it's really hard and mistakes will be made.)

Buffalo is an extreme example of a rebuild where the team gutted everything. (That in itself was one of the mistakes, and teams needing to rebuild in the future are more likely to follow Toronto's model, and avoid such extremes.) Nevertheless, building a team is very hard, and SY is prudent to temper expectations for quick satisfaction.

I think the Wings have drafted very well recently and the foundation is in place. I think they are ready to show improvement this season. But I wouldn't expect a playoff appearance just yet.

 

Matty and Dan, in my opinion and FWIW, are right on target. This is going to take time and many fans will bitch n moan, because they don't understand the process or don't remember what other teams that are experiencing success now have went through to get where their at.

I will never forget the 'Dead Wings' era... it was brutal and long. Then riding on to the scene was a kid named Yzerman, he was kinda given credit for the turn-around in Mo-Town. Whats cool is the Wings and their fans must be patient as this can happen again and it might be underway with Larkin, but one man doesn't make a team, especially a well built team with longevity.

Im going to be honest... I believe in Yzerman and like what he said in the above article. I also believe he's the right guy to turn things back around as quickly as possible. It wont be over-night, but it wont be a work in futility like the Oilers (sorry Edmonton).

At least the rebuild with Yzerman in control will be interesting as I think Ken Holland kinda expended all he could and change was inevitable - good for all parties involved.

Im going to TRY and be patient and I really think the youth coming up are going to be good ones that should get developed properly as Yzerman transitions the right pieces in charge of evaluation and training... im hoping anyway.

 

Always like to read/watch Wings draft discussion. It's one of the reasons I like Detroit; they know hockey.

The guy talking about what SY might do with those 3 second round picks was, uhmmm, interesting.

Buffalo is on deck when Detroit is OTC, so this carries extra interest for Sabres fans.