The Detroit Red Wings have added another of their Hall of Fame players to their front office.
The team announced on Tuesday that Nicklas Lidstrom has been hired as their new vice president of hockey operations, and that he will have input in all aspects of the team’s moves.
He joins his former Detroit teammate -- and fellow Hall of Famer -- Steve Yzerman in the team’s front office. Yzerman has been the Red Wings’ general manager since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Lidstrom spent all 20 years of his playing career with the Red Wings where he was one of the most decorated and successful players in the NHL history. During his two decades in Detroit he won seven Norris Trophies as the league’s top defenseman and was a core piece to four Stanley Cup winning teams (1997, 1998, 2002, and 2008), while also winning one Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
[MORE: Lidstrom on his toughest losses, influence of Brad McCrimmon]
The Red Wings never missed the playoffs during his career and played in two other Stanley Cup Finals (1995 and 2009).
He retired following the 2011-12 season and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.
The current Red Wings team is a couple of years into a rebuild under Yzerman and is starting to show some signs of promise after five consecutive non-playoff seasons. Rookies Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, along with young players Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Jakub Vrana (when he returns) and some salary cap flexibility have the look of a core that could get them back to the postseason very soon.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.