Lots of people in the Ottawa area were excited about the news of Steve Yzerman finally getting his shot as a GM with the Tampa Bay Lightning
And rightfully so since he's someone with so much success as a player and already a good amount of success in various front office positions
The common thing I heard all day from people is that Tampa Bay is now set to succeed since Yzerman learned in Detroit and led Canada to gold
Easy to say, but let's go deeper and think this through because this may not be as big of a slam dunk as some people are making it out to be
First off, he inherits a team that finished 12th in the East and has a salary cap problem with 40 million already alloted to only 13 players
Certainly not the easiest job to take as your first GM gig...how does he handle the pressure of a franchise facing a major fork in the road?
He'll have to make big decisions on guys like Lecavalier/St. Louis sooner than later...he'll also have 2 find compliments for Stamkos/Hedman
He did learn from Ken Holland and Co. in Detroit, so his GM education is legit, but much of a GM's success comes from a great scouting staff
How much weaker of a scouting staff will Yzerman inherit in Tampa as opposed to the scouts that have been so vital to the Wings for so long?
There is one thing that Yzerman has already done just by signing on with Tampa...he's given the Lightning a much needed boost in credibility