So Long, Yzerplan: Steve Yzerman's Reign Of Error Ends As Red Wings' Larkin Saga Continues
The Yzerplan is dead.
The Detroit Red Wings announced Wednesday that Steve Yzerman will no longer be their GM and executive vice-president. He will transition to a role as senior advisor to Chris Illitch, the team's governor and CEO.
What that means, effectively, is that Yzerman's vision of the future for the organization was a failure. The Wings generated few franchise-changing prospects beyond Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, and zero playoff appearances, while posting the league's fifth-worst points percentage over Yzerman's seven-year reign of error.
Yzerman Steps Down As Red Wings Look For New GM To Build 'Championship-Caliber Organization'
The Detroit Red Wings haven't made the playoffs for 10 straight years, and captain Dylan Larkin wants out. Now, Steve Yzerman is transitioning to a senior advisor role to make room for a new GM.
One of the things you can criticize the Red Wings for is trying to build around Larkin, who has proven himself more of a "great No. 2 center on a good team" than a "No. 1 center on a team that can barely make the playoffs."
But one can easily imagine that this decision signals that all involved on the team side of things recognize that Yzerman's approach with his captain wasn't working.
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reported last week that the now-ex-GM wanted roster players for Larkin, not futures that would likely extend the losing seasons into the indeterminate future.
No roster players on Larkin's four-team list were forthcoming - and certainly none that were going to move the needle in any serious way toward Detroit's first playoff appearance since 2016 - and this is the last-ditch effort to pivot.
Whether Larkin shows up to camp in Detroit this September is still an open question, but the smart money is on "he won't," and that's because Yzerman's attempt to hold the line on maximizing value for his unsettled captain while trying to keep the Yzerplan going was a catastrophic failure.
NHL Prospect Pool Overview '26-27: Detroit Red Wings Must Rely On Deep Pipeline If Larkin Leaves
The Detroit Red Wings have an outstanding NHL prospect pool after missing the playoffs for 10 straight seasons. Captain Dylan Larkin wants out, so how will their prospects step up?
Larkin will likely get what he wants sooner than later, depending on how long the search for the next GM takes. And unless the new guy can do a better job of convincing Larkin to waive his no-movement clause for even more teams, he will be traded for futures.
That, in turn, probably signals the 10-year playoff drought stretching into its teenage years and even more difficult decisions about who stays and who goes from the roster in the interim.
Why, for example, keep the many fine-to-good veterans Yzerman signed or traded for with the express goal of being just good enough to get into the playoffs?
His successor's first job will be moving Larkin, and the second will be testing the market for guys like Alex DeBrincat, Andrew Copp, Mason Appleton and Justin Faulk, all of whom have just one year left on their contracts.
It wasn't necessarily always going to end this way, but it was a fait accompli even a few years before the Larkin demand came in. The current captain had a clearer vision of the Red Wings' future than the one from the 1990s, and that was the problem all along.
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This story was originally published July 15, 2026 at 12:19 PM.