TAMPA, Fla. — When Lightning owner Jeff Vinik met with Steve Yzerman in July, he fully expected to be working on another long-term extension for his prized general manager.
So when Yzerman told Vinik he was considering stepping back into an adviser role for the final year of his contract, the billionaire was blown away.
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“Shocked,” Vinik told The Athletic. “I didn’t see it coming.”
Yzerman stunned the hockey world Tuesday by stepping down, officially announcing the move hours after meeting in person with players at the team’s practice facility. The Athletic was first to report the news. Yzerman will still be with the Lightning, at least for this season, serving as a senior adviser to his longtime right-hand man, Julien BriseBois, who gets his much-anticipated (and deserved) shot as GM.
“He’s more than ready,” Yzerman said.
While the timing, two days before Thursday’s start of training camp, caught many off-guard, the move is something Yzerman said he’s pondered the past couple seasons, then more seriously early this summer. His family’s home has long been in suburban Detroit, where the former iconic Red Wings captain’s wife, Lisa, and oldest daughter, Isabella, still reside. Isabella is taking online master’s courses through the University of Southern California. His daughter Sophia attends nearby University of Michigan. And another, Maria, is at Boston University.
The grind of commuting between Tampa and Detroit the past eight years took its toll. Yzerman simply felt he couldn’t do the GM job the way he felt it needed to be done while still being present enough for his family.
“I’ve loved this job,” Yzerman told The Athletic. “I’m very proud of what we’ve built as an organization. We haven’t won the Stanley Cup and I’m disappointed with that, it would make it a little bit easier to step down and say, ‘Hey, we won a Stanley Cup, it’s time for Julien.’ I have the reasons for making the decision at this time. It’s not easy. But I feel strongly it’s the right thing to do.”
The million-dollar question is how long Yzerman will remain with a Tampa Bay organization he helped revitalize the past eight seasons? There are many in Detroit wondering whether it is inevitable that Yzerman’s next move is into the front office of the Red Wings. But Yzerman’s good friend and mentor Ken Holland recently signed a two-year extension with Detroit, and it wouldn’t be his M.O. to undermine his former boss.
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So Yzerman wasn’t touching that subject Tuesday, making it clear his future is still up in the air.
“Beyond this year, I don’t know,” Yzerman said.
What we do know is Yzerman leaves some huge holes to fill. The former NHL executive of the year has led the Lightning to four trips to the Eastern Conference final (including the 2015 appearance in the Stanley Cup final). He helped bring the franchise instant credibility, along with Vinik. The two arrived in the summer of 2010 when, in some ways, the Lightning brand was dead. Yzerman made Tampa Bay a destination for players, with captain Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov among the core players who have signed eight-year extensions in his tenure.
“I met with Steve this morning, and I was shocked to say the least,” Stamkos told The Athletic. “But I respect his decision. I have had such a great relationship with Steve and it’s tough to see him step down, but saying that, Julian has been there every step of the way and we have all the confidence in him going forward. Management and ownership have always been on the same page, with the same goal. And that is to win a Stanley Cup. And nothing is going to change that goal moving forward.”
Both Vinik and Yzerman have full confidence in BriseBois, a rising executive who has interviewed for GM jobs with several teams over the years, including Pittsburgh and Montreal, where he spent nine seasons. Yzerman said from the beginning, he and BriseBois put together an organizational plan, with his assistant completing all tasks done by a GM.
BriseBois, a native of Greenfield Park, Quebec, worked in a law firm before his tenure with the Canadiens, where he went from director of legal affairs to director of hockey operations and vice president of hockey operations.
“He’s got great instincts, great energy, enthusiasm,” Yzerman said. “He’s very bright, he’s a high-character person, good man. He’s really well-read, very progressive in his thinking via analytics, and very creative in looking at different ways of managing, making decisions in a different way.”
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BriseBois made it clear it will be “business as usual” with the Lightning, starting with the opening of training camp Thursday at Amalie Arena. He was grateful for the opportunity and happy he could convince Vinik he was the right man for the job in the past month as the Lightning brass sorted out details of the transition.
“I never thought I’d get this job one day,” BriseBois said. “I never thought it’d get open.”
BriseBois said he’ll still remain the general manager of AHL Syracuse, his role the past eight seasons. One of Yzerman’s evolving responsibilities will be checking in on the Crunch, which he’s excited to do, with plans to split time between Detroit and Tampa.
“I’ll do whatever (BriseBois) needs me to do,” Yzerman said. “I was a first-time GM, I had been through the first year. There’s a lot to do, a lot of decisions you have to make and everyone turns to you for those decisions. I think it’s helpful to have somebody there just to share your thoughts with, bounce ideas off of. I plan to be there for him.”
Yzerman has said he’s loved working for Vinik and “couldn’t ask for more.” He’s compared Vinik favorably to late Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch for his passion and knowledge of the sport and willingness to use every resource to win. That came into play when Yzerman first told Vinik of his plans to step down. It’s believed Yzerman has an ownership stake in the Lightning, though neither side has confirmed that.
“I can’t say that I didn’t try to find ways to keep him here,” Vinik said. “But he made the right decision for his family.”
BriseBois is optimistic that Yzerman’s stay as an adviser will be longer than just a one-year stint, saying they’ll try to make this experience as positive as they can.
“Hopefully we win the Cup this year,” BriseBois said. “And get both of our names on it at the same time.”
(Top photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)
