In a pre-training camp shocker, Steve Yzerman is leaving his post as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, according to reports.
The NHL team is holding a news conference at 4 p.m. ET to make an official announcement. It's expected Lightning assistant GM Julien BriseBois will be promoted, with Yzerman remaining in the organization.
BriseBois, 41, has long been considered a future NHL GM who worked under Yzerman since they arrived in Tampa eight years ago.
The Lightning are coming off a franchise-best 113-point regular season and Game 7 loss in the Eastern Conference final to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals.
Yzerman, who was named Lightning GM on May 25, 2010, guided Tampa to the Cup Final in 2015 and watched the team fall in six games to Chicago. The Lightning posted a 54-23-5 record last season and has advanced to the conference finals twice in the past three years.
Solid rebuild
During the 2014-15 campaign, Tampa reached the 50-win plateau for the first time and set a new record with 32 home victories. The NHL also rewarded Yzerman for his hard work, naming the native of Cranbrook, B.C., its GM of the year.
Prior to joining the Lightning, the 53-year-old spent four seasons as vice president with the Detroit Red Wings after retiring as a player with the team in 2006. Yzerman is a four-time Cup champion, winning three times as a player (1997, 1998, 2002) and as a member of Detroit's management team in 2008.
He took over in Tampa from the fired Brian Lawton, tasked with the challenge of rebuilding a franchise that had fallen on hard times since capturing its lone Stanley Cup in 2004.
"The long-term goal is to make this team a perennial contender." Yzerman, a 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee in his first year of eligibility, said at the time.
During Yzerman's first season in Florida, the Lightning rebounded from a 34-36-12 mark in 2009-10 to go 46-25-11 under new head coach Guy Boucher.
International success
Since its 18-26-4 record in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Tampa hasn't had a winning percentage under .573.
Along the way, Yzerman, known for his emphasis on drafting and development, has watched homegrown players flourish such as Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn.
In recent years, Yzerman became an integral part of Hockey Canada's management team, serving as GM at the world championships in 2007 and 2008 when Team Canada brought home gold and silver medals, respectively.
The father of three daughters also led Canada to gold in 2010 at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he served as the team's executive director. Yzerman held the same position four years later when the Canadians prevailed in Sochi, Russia.
