Speculation: This is Ken Holland's Last Season as GM

[Claypool]

Ken Holland's contract is up at the end of this season. Typically, general managers entering their final season are offered an extension the summer before or are replaced. Rumors within the organization suggests he may be retiring.

It's worth noting Steve Yzerman's contract ends after next season. I firmly believe ownership is hoping to lure him back home this offseason. I also believe Yzerman wants to win a Cup with Tampa before doing so. Blashill's contract also runs out after next season. Next year is the perfect time to bring back Yzerman and clean house.

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[SpookyTsuki]

Tampa wins cup this year. Yzermans job is done. Comes back home to the wings after Martin does nothing for a year

 

[TheMule93]

Tampa wins cup this year. Yzermans job is done. Comes back home to the wings after Martin does nothing for a year

Yep, I don't see him coming back until he wins a cup there while their window is wide open

I'm just worried that if he comes here and doesn't do so well it will tarnish his legacy a bit - and he'd be set up for failure with the state that Holland has left the organization in. That being said he's been fantastic in tampa so who knows.

You've gotta think Tampa ownership is trying to extend him. I think he waits until the season is over. If he wins the cup he comes here, if not he signs one year deals until he does, or at least makes the finals

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Wishful thinking.

The Wings aren't your typical organization. The owners and Holland probably know that his extension is a mere formality.

I do wish he would retire. The man murdered this franchise.

Although they need to hire an outsider. If they just promote from within, it will just be like going from Matt Millen to Martin Mayhew.

 

[jkutswings]

Personally, I hope Yzerman succeeds in Tampa and stays there. Easily my favorite player of all time, but:

1) He has his own warts as GM, and, more importantly;

2) I want this organization to find the best guy for the job, regardless of his background, instead of hoping that a past hero is a hero yet again.

(On a certain level, I think they'd be best served by gutting the majority of their administration, and going completely outside the organization, but I should be willing to adhere to my own advice, so whoever is best for the job should get it.)

But as for the OP, my fingers are crossed that you're right.

 

[Heaton]

Personally, I hope Yzerman succeeds in Tampa and stays there. Easily my favorite player of all time, but:

1) He has his own warts as GM, and, more importantly;

2) I want this organization to find the best guy for the job, regardless of his background, instead of hoping that a past hero is a hero yet again.

(On a certain level, I think they'd be best served by gutting the majority of their administration, and going completely outside the organization, but I should be willing to adhere to my own advice, so whoever is best for the job should get it.)

But as for the OP, my fingers are crossed that you're right.

I'd be fine with Yzerman but I also agree with this. Bringing back Yzerman seems like more of the same type of loyalty that has gotten this team into the place we're at. Bringing in someone who has no ties to these players would be the best thing to do. That way he can ship out the unnecessary/redundant players and draft appropriately.

 

[TheMule93]

My fear with Yzerman is that he'll be hesitant to do what truly needs to be done (an actual rebuild) due to not wanting to upset the fanbase/his fans

 

[Henkka]

Tampa wins cup this year. Yzermans job is done. Comes back home to the wings after Martin does nothing for a year

So let's all root for Tampa at this season. Only possiblity to get Yzerman back is their SC win.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Personally, I hope Yzerman succeeds in Tampa and stays there. Easily my favorite player of all time, but:

1) He has his own warts as GM, and, more importantly;

2) I want this organization to find the best guy for the job, regardless of his background, instead of hoping that a past hero is a hero yet again.

(On a certain level, I think they'd be best served by gutting the majority of their administration, and going completely outside the organization, but I should be willing to adhere to my own advice, so whoever is best for the job should get it.)

But as for the OP, my fingers are crossed that you're right.

Right now who is a better candidate though? Assistant Gm? The best one isn’t really a better candidate then a good GM

 

[Henkka]

I'd be fine with Yzerman but I also agree with this. Bringing back Yzerman seems like more of the same type of loyalty that has gotten this team into the place we're at. Bringing in someone who has no ties to these players would be the best thing to do. That way he can ship out the unnecessary/redundant players and draft appropriately.

I don't have any loyalty problems with Yzerman. Steve Yzerman has always operated on his own. Kronwall is retired at next summer and then Zetterberg is left from his old teammates.

Best in Yzerman is that he has superb connections to Hockey Canada. He can hire superb staff from his Hockey Canada days. Al Murray already is Lightning's current Scouting director responsible drafting Kucherov, Palat etc. They had a former connection at Hockey Canada.

If you hire Yzerman, his connections will build a suberb level front office for 99% sure. No one says no to Steve Yzerman, when he's calling.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Yes, I see it now. Holland leaves after this season when we get a top 3 pick and draft a superstar. Yzerman comes in and does some minor moves, maybe moves a bad contract or two. Team becomes successful on the backs of Mantha/Larkin/Rasmussen/Svechnikov/Cholowski/Dahlin?/Hicketts/Hronek/etc and this board sings Yzerman's praises.

 

[Henkka]

Yeah, it's really funny how it could go. Holland tanks us a superstar. The credit goes to next GM.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

It's a nice dream but if Yzerman wins a Cup with Tampa, trying to repeat the next season seems a whole lot more enticing than taking a job on a team with major cap problems, terrible contracts and no core.

 

[jkutswings]

Yes, I see it now. Holland leaves after this season when we get a top 3 pick and draft a superstar. Yzerman comes in and does some minor moves, maybe moves a bad contract or two. Team becomes successful on the backs of Mantha/Larkin/Rasmussen/Svechnikov/Cholowski/Dahlin?/Hicketts/Hronek/etc and this board sings Yzerman's praises.

If players like Svechnikov and Cholowski - let alone Hicketts - end up being the foundation of future success, I'll eat my hat, and declare Ken Holland a misunderstood genius for the ages.

But I'm not exactly concerned for the well being of my hat these days.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Yeah, it's really funny how it could go. Holland tanks us a superstar. The credit goes to next GM.

Yes that stealth 80 million dollar tank.

Kenny sure is smart.

 

[Heaton]

Yes, I see it now. Holland leaves after this season when we get a top 3 pick and draft a superstar. Yzerman comes in and does some minor moves, maybe moves a bad contract or two. Team becomes successful on the backs of Mantha/Larkin/Rasmussen/Svechnikov/Cholowski/Dahlin?/Hicketts/Hronek/etc and this board sings Yzerman's praises.

Just like Holland did when he took over! Would be a perfect succession.

 

[njx9]

I'd rather find someone totally disconnected from the organization, who has no loyalty or connection to anyone on the team. I think the team needs someone who cares less about the last 25 years than they do about the next 25 years, and I'm not sure that a guy who's name is in the rafters is the right guy to lead that change.

 

[Pavels Dog]

If players like Svechnikov and Cholowski - let alone Hicketts - end up being the foundation of future success, I'll eat my hat, and declare Ken Holland a misunderstood genius for the ages.

But I'm not exactly concerned for the well being of my hat these days.

I mean it's pretty obvious that you don't have a core of 8+ players playing at a superstar caliber. What's so crazy about Svechnikov being a better version of Abdelkader to help out our top 6? What's crazy about Cholowski being a 20-30 point two-way d-man that complements a dynamic offensive d-man like Dahlin, Hronek, Saarijarvi or maybe some other '18 pick? Hicketts could be a good #4-5 PP specialist, adding even more skill and puck-movement to our lineup. These are all potential parts of our future success. Larkin looks like he's growing into a #2C if not more. Mantha a legit top-line winger. It's quite possible that the most important piece or two are still undrafted, but there's going to be more skill entering the lineup than leaving it pretty soon. That's going to impact the ability of the team as a whole to play a game that has a higher level of puck-possession and skill. Larkin has a 9 points in 9 games on a team that usually gets killed possession-wise. Mantha is a beast offensively that is forced to play way too much D. It's great if we can add bonafide elite talent that has zero risk of not being HOF-caliber, but even if we can't do that there's the possibility of players exploding offensively if our team starts being able to play with the puck more often.

 

[Martinez]

I would think we would need better prospects for yzerman to want to come here. Multiple years of drafting around top 5, then when whoever does come they can look good because we were going to be better anyway with a bunch of our bad contracts expiring and top prospects ready to play.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I mean it's pretty obvious that you don't have a core of 8+ players playing at a superstar caliber. What's so crazy about Svechnikov being a better version of Abdelkader to help out our top 6? What's crazy about Cholowski being a 20-30 point two-way d-man that complements a dynamic offensive d-man like Dahlin, Hronek, Saarijarvi or maybe some other '18 pick? Hicketts could be a good #4-5 PP specialist, adding even more skill and puck-movement to our lineup. These are all potential parts of our future success. Larkin looks like he's growing into a #2C if not more. Mantha a legit top-line winger. It's quite possible that the most important piece or two are still undrafted, but there's going to be more skill entering the lineup than leaving it pretty soon. That's going to impact the ability of the team as a whole to play a game that has a higher level of puck-possession and skill. Larkin has a 9 points in 9 games on a team that usually gets killed possession-wise. Mantha is a beast offensively that is forced to play way too much D. It's great if we can add bonafide elite talent that has zero risk of not being HOF-caliber, but even if we can't do that there's the possibility of players exploding offensively if our team starts being able to play with the puck more often.

Sure it's possible, but the reality is all those guys panning out is unlikely.

It's the nature of us fans to hope that these prospects will be the solution, but most of the time they just aren't. Even great drafting means you find a few gems but have a lot of misses.

I remember when Smith, Kindl, Ericsson and XO were going to keep our blueline going for years. Hudler was the next Brett Hull.

 

[Flowah]

I'd rather find someone totally disconnected from the organization, who has no loyalty or connection to anyone on the team. I think the team needs someone who cares less about the last 25 years than they do about the next 25 years, and I'm not sure that a guy who's name is in the rafters is the right guy to lead that change.

Yzerman seems to be super competitive. That's what you'd be banking on. That his competitiveness is greater than any loyalty he has to players he's never skated with before which is most of the team.

I think that would be the right bet.

I also think this is a pipedream heavily contingent on the Bolts winning this year or next which is a long shot.

 

[njx9]

Yzerman seems to be super competitive. That's what you'd be banking on. That his competitiveness is greater than any loyalty he has to players he's never skated with before which is most of the team.

I think that would be the right bet.

I also think this is a pipedream heavily contingent on the Bolts winning this year or next which is a long shot.

It's totally possible, I just worry he'd be very loyal to the FO, as I have a hard time believing Holland would walk away entirely. I dunno, that might be completely unfounded, and Yzerman might really be the best possible guy for the job.

 

[Frk It]

Yes, I see it now. Holland leaves after this season when we get a top 3 pick and draft a superstar. Yzerman comes in and does some minor moves, maybe moves a bad contract or two. Team becomes successful on the backs of Mantha/Larkin/Rasmussen/Svechnikov/Cholowski/Dahlin?/Hicketts/Hronek/etc and this board sings Yzerman's praises.

Holland inherited a great team too... he was involved in setting it up, but just saying. Doubt Yzerman inherits this team with a "superstar", and doubt even more he comes back, so I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it.

 

[jkutswings]

I mean it's pretty obvious that you don't have a core of 8+ players playing at a superstar caliber. What's so crazy about Svechnikov being a better version of Abdelkader to help out our top 6? What's crazy about Cholowski being a 20-30 point two-way d-man that complements a dynamic offensive d-man like Dahlin, Hronek, Saarijarvi or maybe some other '18 pick? Hicketts could be a good #4-5 PP specialist, adding even more skill and puck-movement to our lineup. These are all potential parts of our future success. Larkin looks like he's growing into a #2C if not more. Mantha a legit top-line winger. It's quite possible that the most important piece or two are still undrafted, but there's going to be more skill entering the lineup than leaving it pretty soon. That's going to impact the ability of the team as a whole to play a game that has a higher level of puck-possession and skill. Larkin has a 9 points in 9 games on a team that usually gets killed possession-wise. Mantha is a beast offensively that is forced to play way too much D. It's great if we can add bonafide elite talent that has zero risk of not being HOF-caliber, but even if we can't do that there's the possibility of players exploding offensively if our team starts being able to play with the puck more often.

You used the term 'foundation', which I interpreted as meaning, 'core players'. Mantha and Larkin might be part of a championship core one day, and they might not, but even the elaborations you provided on the other players listed clearly has them as complimentary pieces and/or depth.

Nothing wrong with that, but saying a guy is part of the puzzle is different than saying he's a core player.

 

[Frk It]

No disrespect Bin, but it seems to me like the only way Holland would go upstairs is if the decision is made for him.

From everything I have read, Holland is still very passionate about being GM and isn’t ready to give it up.

So with Chris Illitch giving him a vote of confidence just a few months ago, I’m not banking on this happening.