Steve Yzerman is one of the best NHL players of all time, not only for a storied organization like Detroit but in league history. He can also lay claim to being one of the best Canadian players not named Wayne Gretzky. The former Red Wing is also a successful front office executive in both the NHL and international roles with Team Canada.
Estimated Net Worth: $50 Million
NHL career: 1983 – 2006
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He was the fourth overall draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings in the 1983 NHL Draft. Yzerman was named team captain at age 21 and served in that role for the Red Wings until his retirement. “The Captain” retired in 2006 after winning three Stanley Cups, one Conn Smythe, one Selke, and was named to 10 All-Star teams. He scored 692 goals and had 1,063 assists. He won two golds, two silvers, and a bronze medal while playing for Team Canada. How dominant was he? He ranks second in team history in almost every offensive category to another Red Wings legend, Gordie Howe. His number 19 is retired. Yzerman was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Personal Life
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Yzerman has been married to Lisa Yzerman (nee Brennan) since 1989. The couple has three daughters. He is a naturalized American citizen via his long term residency in Michigan.
Post Career: From NHL Front Office to Team Canada to NHL Executive Again
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After his retirement in 2006, Stevie Y was named Vice President of the team and an alternate governor that attends various league-wide functions. He served in that capacity until 2010 when he was hired as the General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In Tampa, he had a successful run as GM, reaching the Stanley Cup finals once and reaching the playoffs every year minus two seasons. The foundation of the highly disappointing President’s Cup winning 2018-2019 Lightning squad that got swept recently was built by Yzerman.
As an executive for Team Canada, he won two Winter Olympic gold medals and the IIHF World Championship in 2007. Team Canada had predictably stacked rosters featuring the talents of Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, Rick Nash, and Johnathan Toews.
He resigned as the Lightning GM before the 2018-19 season and became a special advisor to team owner Jeffery Vinik.
On April 19, 2019, he was hired as the General Manager and Executive Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings, marking a return to the only professional organization he knew as a player. Former General Manager Ken Holland was promoted to President of Hockey Operations.