- Chris Ilitch’s hesitation cost the Red Wings a Steven Stamkos signing in 2024, per a new report
- Steve Yzerman asked to add a fourth year to Detroit’s offer and never heard back from his owner
- Read below for what Stamkos has done since and how it ties into Detroit’s GM search
Steve Yzerman had Steven Stamkos within reach in 2024. His owner never called him back.
Chris Ilitch’s hesitation on big signings cost Detroit a Stamkos deal that summer, Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press reported Friday. The Red Wings had an offer out. Nashville had a better one, and Ilitch sat on the difference until it stopped mattering.
We laid out how the whole thing came apart:
Term was the sticking point, not dollars. Yzerman put three years on the table at the same annual money Nashville was offering, then found out the Predators had gone to four.
He got Ilitch on the phone and asked to match the extra year. Ilitch said he would get back to him, and Yzerman warned that it had to be quick.
That call never came. Stamkos signed with Nashville on July 1, 2024, four years and $32 million.
What Detroit walked away from has not aged well. Stamkos scored 42 goals with 66 points in 82 games last season, one more goal than Alex DeBrincat’s team-leading 41 for the Red Wings. He sits at 624 career goals across 1,246 games.
Watch all 42 of them:
Stamkos is not the only one who got away. Monarrez also reported that assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff had a deal in place with Anthony Mantha this summer, and it fell apart while Ilitch deliberated.
Detroit had circled Mantha as a target before Yzerman left, and the winger wound up in New Jersey on a two-year deal instead.
The Red Wings still do not have a general manager. Yzerman’s removal became official July 15, and Ilitch handed the search to an outside firm.
Whoever gets the job walks into more than $19 million in projected cap space and an owner with a track record of taking too long to spend it.
