Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersbrug Times: It came as a bit of surprise today that Steve Yzerman was named the new General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning. For weeks it was thought that he wasn’t interested in taking the position. A few days ago, he offered a ‘no comment’ when asked about his interest in it, which then led one to believe he was back in the running.
The deal could be for 5 years, and with the possibility of Yzerman being one of the top paid GMs in the league (one of the top paid GMs was mentioned on the Fan 590 today).
New Lightning owner Jeff Vinik said “Steve is the right man to bring a winning atmosphere back here and build a world-class organization”. “Vinik lauded Yzerman’s leadership, integrity and loyalty and ‘intelligent, thoughtful approach to making decisions.'”
Yzerman will now look to hiring a new coach, and preparing for the NHL Draft on June 25th-26th which they have the 6th overall pick.
