Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff caught up with former Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland earlier this week and the long-time front-office executive talked about his new role with the National Hockey League.
Soon to be 70 years old, Holland joined the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department as a consultant last month after spending nearly three decades in the league as a general manager. He’s enjoying the extra time with his family and he’s excited about the opportunity to continue his involvement with hockey, but the four-time Stanley Cup winner thinks he might be missing some stress in his life.
Year in and year out, since the mid-1980s, the rhythm of the season has been the same. Whether it was as scout, director of amateur scouting, assistant general manager, or GM for 27 years, Holland has been invested with one team in the fight.
“I was a Red Wing for 37 years and then five with Edmonton,” Holland said. “I’ve had the highs and lows, the emotional rollercoaster ride.”
In June, he was one win away from a fifth Stanley Cup with Edmonton – one win from being on a shortlist of managers who guided two separate franchises to a title, one win away from etching his name on Lord Stanley next to his son, Brad, who was the Oilers’ assistant GM. And one week later, poof, his contract expired in Edmonton and he was left to decide how to fill his days.
Holland had offers from multiple teams to join as an advisor. But that didn’t feel quite right. He prefers to have more decision-making power as opposed to being part of the furniture.
“We’ll see,” Holland said. “I’m enjoying this year and we’ll see what happens. Hopefully I can add to the Hockey Ops department.”
Holland has no shortage of options. He could continue on in Hockey Operations. But the hockey lifer admittedly still can’t quite kick the exhilaration of having skin in the game, the joy and pain of wins and losses.
“We’ll see,” Holland said. “For the first time, since July 1, I haven’t had any stress. It’s been an stress-free existence. But I’m not sure if I enjoy a stress-free existence.”

Is it time to declare the ‘Yzerplan’ a failure in Detroit?

When Holland left Detroit for Edmonton following the 2018-19 season, he was replaced by Steve Yzerman, who had been a star player for the Red Wings for many years. The Hall of Fame forward built a juggernaut with the Tampa Bay Lightning and they eventually won two Stanley Cups after he left to become the general manager for the only NHL club he ever suited up for.
The hope was that Yzerman could return the Red Wings to the glory that was experienced during his playing days, which saw the team make the playoffs for 25 consecutive seasons between 1991 and 2016 and win four Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2008. Though Yzerman retired in 2006, selecting him with the fourth pick in the 1984 draft is what led to Detroit’s fortunes being turned around when the organization was struggling after the Gordie Howe era.
Now into the sixth season of the ‘Yzerplan’ and the Red Wings aren’t any better off than they were before. Detroit posted a 32-40-10 record in Holland’s final season with the club in 2018-19 and they’re on pace to have a similar result in 2024-25. The Wings are 11-14-4 on the season and are quickly falling out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff took a look into Yzerman’s tenure with the Red Wings and wondered if it’s time to say that it’s been a failure.
In the case of the Red Wings, despite being on the losing side of things for more than half of a decade, there has yet to be a crown jewel emerge from it all.
The Red Wings have drafted some really nice players. Most notably, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, who have already become cornerstones of the franchise. Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper have become consistent NHLers over the last 12 months (more so the former) and look to have promise in terms of higher ceilings.
But after those four, there have been few and far between Yzerman-drafted prospects that have made impacts at the NHL level.
You aren’t going to hit on every pick, and there are still some draft picks (including the three first rounders in the last two drafts) that have time to make an impact, but after this much time invested in a rebuild, the amount – or rather lack thereof – of home grown picks hitting is starting to become concerning. You also have to hope to hit on draft picks beyond the first round. To this point, only three of Yzerman’s post-first round picks have made the NHL, combined for a grand total of 27 games.

Other news and notes from around the NHL…

  • The Anaheim Ducks will be without Trevor Zegras for the next six weeks as the forward underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on Thursday. “It’s actually much, much better than was initially feared,” Elliotte Friedman reported on social media. “So good news for Zegras and the Ducks, thankfully.” This is a wrench in what’s been another disappointing season for the ninth pick from the 2019 draft. Zegras has four goals and 10 points over 24 games in 2024-25, similar production to the 15 points in 31 games he managed last season.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks announced on Friday that the team has called up top prospect Frank Nazar from the Rockford Ice Hogs of the American Hockey League. Through 21 games in the American Hockey League this season, the Detroit native has 11 goals and 24 points, good for first among rookies. The Hawks selected Nazar with the 13th pick in the 2022 draft from the United States Development Program. He spent two seasons with the University of Michigan, scoring 19 goals and 48 points over 54 games in 2022-23 and 2023-24. After his NCAA season wrapped up last year, Nazar inked his entry-level contract with Chicago and scored one goal in three NHL games.