Former General Manager Steve Yzerman and head coach Jon Cooper have been a winning combination for the Tampa Bay Lightning. With Cooper extended and Yzerman’s future in Tampa Bay uncertain, how would a break up of the two affect the team?
The Tampa Bay Lightning are the gold standard of NHL teams. With debt and every position, it’s no question they’re the favorites to hoist the Stanley Cup. It’s their league and everyone else is just playing in it.
It takes two to tango and the Lightning’s success is equal parts players and their front office with the coaching staff. Tampa Bay extended their head coach Jon Cooper recently, just as everyone expected, but the status of former GM Steve Yzerman is up in the air. Yzerman stepped down to spend more time with his family, who are still in Detroit.
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Even though Yzerman has appeared to have given the reigns of the general manager’s position to his successor over to current general manager Julien Brisebois, his fingerprints are still all over this team. His position in the final year of his contract with the Lightning is as a special adviser to team owner Jeffrey Vinik. This suggests he may have more control over the team’s operations than it might seem.
How would a breakup of the dynamic duo of Yzerman and Cooper affect the Lightning’s long term success? The former has had a longer tenure with Tampa than the latter, working with former head coach Guy Boucher his first three seasons. While Boucher had limited success with Tampa Bay, with one postseason appearance, Cooper has had the continued success as a legitimate playoff contender that eluded his predecessor.
Cooper is successful because of the tools that Yzerman gave to him. It was the general manager who was able to turn around the Lightning roster in a changing of the guard from the Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis years to the Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov era.
One of his most undervalued achievements was locking up Stamkos long-term when every hockey writer and pundit expected him to leave the Lightning behind in free agency. Stamkos didn’t even make it to July 1st before Yzerman had him sign on to a team friendly deal.
Why did he stay in Central Florida when he could have gotten a John Tavares-esque payday elsewhere? Because he believed in what Yzerman was doing. Everything in the two seasons since then shows that Stamkos was right and made the correct decision.
One point of concern is that his successor in BriseBois hasn’t been tested yet in the GM’s chair. Since taking over in September of last year, his only moves have only been two minor trades: acquiring prospect Mitch Hultz from the Anaheim Ducks in October and Jan Rutta from Chicago in January.
The closest thing he’s had to a player singing was an entry-level contract with QMJHL player Jimmy Hunnington. Most of the preseason heavy lifting such as the drafts and free agency were handled by then GM-Yzerman before he officially relinquished the title.
What could have been an early test of Brisebois role as the general manager came and went with this year’s trade deadline. The Lightning made no moves or trades, which weren’t needed anyway since their team is nearly flawless the way it is.
Confidence in his roster held out, but was Brisebois’ inaction motivated by being content with his team, or because of his relative inexperience calling the shots? Guess we’ll have to be patient to see what type of action he makes when offers are on the table.
Lightning fans rightfully have a cause of concern for life after Yzerman, but the future led by Brisebois shouldn’t look all that unfamiliar. What Brisebois has in his favor is that he was groomed in the shadow of Yzerman. He is probably going to be the closest person to Yzerman that could have filled his role. During his entire tenure with the Lightning, Brisebois was there in the organization.
What that also means is that throughout all of Cooper’s tenure with the Lightning, Brisebois has also been there as well. In many cases, Brisebois was managing and trading the very players that would grow up to be under the control of cooper in the big leagues. So even if the Yzerman and Cooper combination gets broken up, we can expect a similar relationship and dealings with in Tampa.
What will happen to Steve Yzerman? Maybe he’ll resign with the Lightning to serve the front office in a limited capacity, or maybe he’ll go back to the Detroit Red Wings in an “I’m going home” move like Martin Brodeur did this past year when he went back to the New Jersey Devils from the St. Louis Blues. Brodeur used the same wanting to be near his family reasoning in his move back to Jersey, just like Yzerman’s concerns. Yzerman hasn’t committed to his future with, deciding to wait until the season is over.
Whatever happens, the Lightning and their fans should be confident with Yzerman’s successor. The off-season, no matter how early or late it begins, will be the first real test for BriseBois. If he can enter the summer on a winning note, the transition will be all that easier.