Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Steve Yzerman might get Lightning GM job

Steve Yzerman

FILE - In this June 16, 1998 file photo, Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman hoists the Stanley Cup after beating the Washington Capitals 4-1 in Game 4 Stanley Cup Finals in Washington. The Hockey Hall of Fame announces its class of 2009 Tuesday June 23, 2009, and the list of those eligible is impressive. Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille are leading contenders, but Brian Leetch, Alexander Mogilny and Dave Andreychuk will also be considered. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson, File)

AP

TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Steve Yzerman is on the “short list” of candidates for the Tampa Bay Lightning GM job along with former Canucks GM Dave Nonis and veteran executive Doug Risebrough.

Sources say the Red Wings have granted permission for Tampa Bay to speak with Yzerman, currently a vice president in Detroit.

Yzerman won’t comment on the possibility, although his interest in making the move now may be amplified by the fact Detroit will soon announce Ken Holland’s contract extension as executive vice president and general manager.

Dave Nonis, the senior vice president of hockey operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs is considered the frontrunner, although, if Yzerman, the executive director for Canada’s Olympic gold medal team, is genuinely interested in the job, that could change.

It seems like a matter of time before Yzerman gets a GM job somewhere. Yzerman is probably getting good experience with the Red Wings’ front office, but I do wonder if he’s ready for it. If Wayne Gretzky (and, for instance, Isiah Thomas in the NBA) showed us anything, star players do not always equal star executives or coaches.

Still, he hasn’t had his big chance yet (and might not still) so perhaps he deserves an opportunity to prove himself before people pass judgment.