Joe Sakic now stands by himself in a very small corner of hockey history.
With Steve Yzerman out in Detroit after the Red Wings dismissed him as general manager and executive vice president on Wednesday, Sakic is the last elite Hall of Fame player who also went on to build a Stanley Cup winner from the front office. For years, the two were linked as the gold standard for superstar captains who turned executive success into a second act. That comparison no longer exists.
Sakic’s case has only gotten stronger with time. Before he was shaping rosters behind the scenes, he was the face of the Avalanche and the force behind Denver’s first major professional sports championship. In the 1996 Stanley Cup Final, Colorado swept the Florida Panthers, and Sakic piled up 34 points (18 goals, 16 assists) in 22 playoff games while winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
That was only part of the résumé. Sakic also posted a career-best 118 points with 54 goals and 64 assists, plus 12 game-winning goals, and took home both the Hart Trophy and the Lady Byng Trophy. Then came another signature moment: in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Winter Olympics, he captained Canada to its first men’s hockey gold medal in 50 years, beating the United States in the final and earning MVP honors for the tournament.
His impact didn’t stop once he hung up the skates. As general manager, Sakic built the roster that brought the Stanley Cup back to Colorado in 2022. He later handed day-to-day GM duties to Chris MacFarland while staying on as president of hockey operations, then resumed the GM role after MacFarland left for the Nashville Predators.
Yzerman’s front-office story took a very different path. His seven years running the Red Wings never produced a playoff berth, and Detroit stayed mired in a rebuild. This offseason even captain Dylan Larkin, a hometown star long viewed as the face of the franchise, requested a trade after years of frustration.
That doesn’t erase what Yzerman meant as a player. He captained the Red Wings from 1986 to 2006 and helped Detroit win three Stanley Cups and reach four Finals during an eight-year run from 1995 to 2002. But as an executive, his career splits into two distinct chapters.
In Tampa Bay, Yzerman built one of the league’s best organizations through drafting, trades and value signings. He selected Andrei Vasilevskiy, Anthony Cirelli, Cal Foote, Nikita Kucherov, Ondřej Palát and Brayden Point, added undrafted players Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde, and brought in Erik Černák, Ryan McDonagh and Mikhail Sergachev to form the core of a future powerhouse.
The Lightning reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2015, and that same year Yzerman became the first general manager in franchise history to win the NHL’s General Manager of the Year Award. Tampa Bay also set franchise marks with 50 wins, 108 points, 262 goals and 32 home victories under his watch. The success kept rolling, too, with an Atlantic Division title in 2017-18 and a run to the Eastern Conference Final before a loss to the Washington Capitals.
Then, in September 2018, Yzerman declined to renew his contract and moved into a senior advisor role, with Julien BriseBois taking over as assistant general manager. Ironically, Yzerman was not the executive who ultimately saw Tampa Bay lift the Cup. The roster he helped assemble reached three straight Stanley Cup Finals and won back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021 under BriseBois.
The Detroit return was supposed to be the next great turnaround. Instead, the rebuild stalled out.
That is how legacies get reshaped in real time. Younger fans may remember Yzerman more for the Red Wings’ failed rebuild than for his Hall of Fame playing career or the foundation he laid in Tampa Bay. And he is not the only all-time great whose post-playing path fell short.
Joe Nieuwendyk had a Hall of Fame-caliber career, including two 50-goal seasons with the Calgary Flames and a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999. But as Dallas general manager, his four-year run ended with three last-place finishes in the Pacific Division. Wayne Gretzky’s post-playing chapter was similarly uneven; despite being widely viewed as the greatest player in the sport’s history, he never led the Arizona Coyotes to a playoff appearance as minority owner and head coach.
That’s what separates Sakic. He didn’t just become a successful executive after an iconic playing career. He became one of the best in the business, built a champion, kept Colorado in the contender class and continues to help steer one of the NHL’s model organizations.
Avalanche fans have always had plenty of reasons to appreciate him.
Now, with Yzerman’s Detroit run over, Sakic’s place in the sport looks even more singular.
In Other News...
Avalanche Fans May Need To Rethink Fabian Lysell Fast
Fabian Lysell is the kind of summer addition that can look like a depth move in July and something much more interesting by the time camp opens. The Avalanche brought in the former first-round pick earlier this summer, and that alone gives the deal a different feel than a routine flyer. Lysell still carries the upside that made him a premium selection, which is why Colorado can view him in more than one way as it sorts out the rest of its roster.
For the Avalanche, the real question is whether Lysell can make himself hard to ignore at the NHL level. If he does, he could force his way into the conversation as a roster player rather than just another name in the system, and his place in the organization will also be shaped by the contract picture around him. Colorado does not have to decide everything right away, but the next stretch will go a long way toward showing whether Lysell is part of the plan or simply part of the asset pool. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Opening Night And Winter Classic Dates Are Finally Set
The Avalanche finally have their opening-night date set, and for the first time in franchise history theyll be kicking off a season in September. It gives Colorado a little extra runway before the grind begins, and it also locks in the kind of early-season spotlight that comes with being one of the leagues marquee teams.
Colorados calendar also now includes a Winter Classic date, adding another showcase game to a season that already has plenty of intrigue. Around the league, the Red Wings are moving on from Steve Yzerman as president and general manager, Trevor Zegras has landed a lucrative extension in Philadelphia, and Anthony Mantha is headed to the Devils, but for the Avalanche the immediate focus is on how the first stretch of the schedule will shape up once the puck drops. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Land Near Bottom Of Aggression Ranking And Fans Know Why
A new study from Casino Guru put a number to something Avalanche fans have long recognized: Colorado played with far more speed and skill than bite last season. The ranking used hits, penalty minutes, major penalties, fights, and suspensions or fines to build an Aggression Index, and the Avalanche ended up near the bottom of the NHL list, a reflection of a team that usually prefers to skate past trouble rather than lean into it.
Colorados place in the standings of that category fits the way this roster is built and the way it tries to win. The Avalanche have never been mistaken for a heavy, grinding club, and the postseason only sharpened that contrast as opponents looked for ways to make them uncomfortable physically. It also leaves an interesting comparison point for the teams that did manage to drag Colorado into a more punishing style, even if the most successful version of that approach came from a different Western Conference foe. [Read more 🡒]