The Yzerplan Failed, So It’s Time For Plan Z In Detroit

When Steve Yzerman took over as Red Wings general manager in 2019, the state of Michigan embraced him as the man who would return their hockey team to glory, or at least clean up the mess Ken Holland left behind.

Some of that was nostalgia for the time he was the Wings' captain, helping them hoist three Stanley Cups.

But it was based on something more tangible, too: Yzerman was coming from Tampa, and the Lightning's team-building in the 2010s was of the finest caliber.

For his entire hockey career, Yzerman had been nothing but successful.

Then he came back to Detroit.

Wednesday's news that Yzerman is stepping down as GM was a huge surprise, if only for the timing.

If a team wants to make a change, they almost always do so right after the season is over and, crucially, before the draft and free agency begin.

Yzerman got deep into this offseason, which has not been a rosy one for the Wings, and now he's getting out.

You can make some educated guesses at the reasons why, but they still aren't entirely clear.

Any GM whose team holds the longest active playoff drought in the league, as the Red Wings do, has to be on the hot seat.

This is especially true in Detroit, where fans got used to winning during a streak of 25 consecutive playoff appearances that started while Yzerman was a player and ended well into the salary cap era.

The last few years of that streak were just perfunctory cameos, and Detroit's reliance on old and expensive vets eventually bottomed them out.

But the hope was that Yzerman could recharge the roster through a series of Tampa-esque drafts.

That hasn't happened.