“I have won the lottery as a young person coming into management: working under Ken Holland to start and then transitioning to Steve Yzerman,” Horcoff said in the interview. “They’re both very different. Ken brought me in and allowed me in on all facets of management, which helped me learn. When Steve and Pat (Verbeek) came in, my role grew and I became more involved in player personnel decisions, sat in on arbitration hearings, contract negotiations….There’s no education you can pay for that – to be around people who do it at such a high level and to be able to sit back and watch.”

“I run the team in Grand Rapids, working closely with the coaching and development staff and making sure our plan in Detroit is being executed down there. Secondly, I work closely with Steve on the professional side. I watch a lot of pro hockey and have a big player personnel role.”

“It has helped massively,” Horcoff said. “Leadership in any role in management in any industry is probably the first and foremost thing you’re relied upon for. When it came to player development, I had already kind of been doing my last two or three seasons as a player, being around younger players as the older guy to help impact them. Before I left Edmonton, we drafted a lot of top draft picks in Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle – the list goes on. … There wasn’t a position or role that I wasn’t comfortable talking about with a younger player. You’re there as a soundboard for these younger guys and help them learn what it takes to stay in the league.”

“I think we’re close and we’ve been right there the past few seasons,” Horcoff said. “We haven’t found a way to get over that hump in the final 15 games or so. A lot of it has to do with being young and inexperienced; we are starting to get some of our high draft picks to turn pro. We have players in Grand Rapids and in Europe looking to make that push (for the NHL). Steve has been very open about being patient and committing to drafting and developing our players.”