Martin St. Louis already left Florida, but his former general manager will stick around for a while.
Tampa Bay Lightning chairman and governor Jeff Vinik announced Monday that the team has signed vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman to a four-year contract extension.
In May 2010, the 48-year-old became the sixth general manager in Lightning history when he left the Detroit Red Wings to join Tampa Bay. Yzerman spent a total of 27 seasons in Detroit as a player and front-office executive. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
Yzerman also served as the executive director of the Canadian Olympic team at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, leading Team Canada to gold medals in Vancouver and Sochi, respectively.
Yzerman initially left St. Louis off Canada’s Olympic squad this year, which many believe contributed to St. Louis requesting a trade from the Lightning.
Although St. Louis eventually replaced former teammate Steven Stamkos on the Canadian roster, the Lightning star was traded to the New York Rangers on March 5 in exchange for Rangers captain Ryan Callahan and two draft picks.
The Lightning currently are in fourth place in the NHL’s Eastern Conference with 93 points and have clinched a playoff berth.
