Steve Yzerman Will No Longer Serve as Red Wings GM, Moving to New Role amid Larkin Trade Rumors

The Steve Yzerman era is over in Detroit amid Dylan Larkin's ongoing bid to be traded from the Red Wings.

Yzerman is transitioning from his previous role as general manager and EVP, the Red Wings announced Wednesday.

He will now serve as a senior advisor to CEO Chris Illitch.

Yzerman will remain the interim leader of the Red Wings' "day-to-day hockey operations" until his successor is named, according to the team.

The news comes about three weeks after Yzerman confirmed Larkin had requested a trade after 11 seasons with the Red Wings and five as the team's captain.

The trade request took place at the tail end of a decade-long postseason drought for the Red Wings, whose playoff hopes have collapsed down the stretch of the last four seasons.

Yzerman said June 27 he could not "make any guarantees" that Larkin's trade request would be met.

Larkin is currently signed through the 2031 season at a $8.7 million AAV. Yzerman said Larkin provided a "short list of teams" for which he would consider waiving his no-trade clause.

That list reportedly includes only the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars, per MLive's Ansar Khan.

Larkin's contract is below market value for his role on the team, a pattern Yzerman repeated with his long-term deals for Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider.

Prior to Larkin's trade request, Yzerman was unable to use that additional cap space to build a playoff contender around his stars.

A Red Wings legend who captained the franchise to three Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2002, Yzerman played 22 seasons in Detroit. He later served as general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2010 to 2019, just before the franchise won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021.

Yzerman took over as general manager in Detroit ahead of the 2019-20 season with the task of leading the Red Wings back into the playoffs for the first time since Larkin's rookie season in 2016.

In his seven seasons in Detroit, Yzerman has been not able to lead the Red Wings into either a tank or a playoff run. Years of barely missing the playoffs left the franchise with a series of middling draft picks, the highest coming with Raymond's selection at No. 4 in 2020.

Yzerman was also unable to find answers at the trade deadline that could keep a team often in the playoff conversation in February in the postseason picture by April.

The Red Wings have posted a combined March record of 17-35-5 over the last four seasons, most recently capping the 2025-26 season off with a 5-7-2 March run to once more miss the postseason.

Illitch will lead a search for the Red Wings' next general manager that will encompass both external and internal candidates, according to the Red Wings. Whoever is selected as Yzerman's successor will be tasked with managing Larkin's trade request while deciding whether to retool around Raymond and Seider or tear down the roster this offseason.