What We Learned: Are Detroit Red Wings ready to enter a new era?

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has hired two coaches in his career as an NHL general manager, and is on the brink of hiring a third.

The first was Guy Boucher, hired soon after Yzerman took over the hockey operations for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010. It’s easy to forget now, but his first season as an NHL coach was an unqualified success: 103 points, phenomenal underlying numbers (albeit with a horribly unaesthetic style), a run to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final, etc. 

But the next season (2011-12), the Lightning played terribly and missed the playoffs. In the 2012-13 season, they played better but had a worse record, and that was it. 

Taken on the balance, it’s probably fair to say Yzerman’s decision didn’t work out so well, but both coach and GM were taking over a team badly in need of an overhaul so it perhaps didn’t matter much. And at least they had that deep playoff run to keep things interesting.