It’s been nearly a month since the Detroit Red Wings announced that GM Steve Yzerman was vacating his role and transitioning to a senior advisor to Governor and CEO Chris Ilitch.
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However, there have been no official reports from the club regarding specific names being mentioned as potential Yzerman successors.
What are the chances that the Red Wings could be considering a familiar name already employed by the Detroit Tigers? According to top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, it’s a distinct possibility.
While appearing on NHL Tonight, Friedman suggested current Tigers general manager Jeff Greenberg as a potential candidate.
“(The new Red Wings GM) might not necessarily be a traditional ‘hockey person’ as we’ve come to define them. It might be different,” Friedman said.
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“There’s one name I want to mention cause I don’t think it’s been out there a lot. It’s a person with a bit of a different background. His name is Jeff Greenberg. He’s the general manager of the Detroit Tigers. Jeff Greenberg worked for the Chicago Blackhawks a few years ago. I think it’s wrong to say anybody is a lead contender or anybody’s got the inside track.”
“But I do think that he’s somebody who’s already in the organization who they have some interest in, and I think if he’s interested in the job, it will be a factor.”
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Friedman then clarified that he wasn’t saying Greenberg, who also previously worked for the Chicago Blackhawks, has become a favorite to land the position.
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“I want to make it very clear, I’m not saying he’s not the favorite or anything like that,” he said. “But he’s a name I haven’t heard a lot about who will be part of this search if he’s interested in the job.”
As far as what the biggest priority for Detroit’s new executive will be, Friedman pointed to the obvious goal of making the Motor City a free-agent destination once again.
“They’ve made it pretty clear they want whoever joins needs to come in with a plan,” he said. “The candidate needs to show they can make Michigan and Detroit a destination.”
Whoever takes over for Yzerman will have several challenges ahead of them, not the least of which is dealing with captain Dylan larkin, who requested a trade after the club missed the playoffs for the 10th straight year.
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