Steve Yzerman is new to the general manager’s job in Tampa Bay and while he’s still on the hunt for a head coach, there’s other positions to fill in Florida as well, one being the numbers man for Yzerman when it comes to contracts and Yzerman wants to stick with someone he knows.
The Windsor Star reported Tuesday that Red Wings GM Ken Holland said Yzerman has asked to speak to Ryan Martin, who is the team’s director of hockey administration and who handles the ins and outs of the salary cap. Martin is known to be close to Yzerman.
After all, if there’s something a team that has Vincent Lecavalier on board for a cap hit of nearly $8 million a year until the year 2020 needs it’s a guy who can make big money disappear over a lot of years rather than sit there in salary purgatory because a guy wants to make $10 million a year. Oh yeah, and Steven Stamkos is a restricted free agent after next season, that might cost a few bucks.
Then again, it could be Steve Yzerman’s job to make that Lecavalier contract disappear completely by shuttling him off somewhere else entirely. If he can do that, he may just be the best general manager we’ll ever see in that position... Or he’ll just have made a call to Glen Sather.