Fansided

Red Wings fans dismayed team has extended GM Ken Holland’s contract

By Michelle Bruton

DETROIT, MI - APRIL 07: Christopher Ilitch, President and CEO, Ilitch Holdings, Inc. Governor, President and CEO, Detroit Red Wings holds a press conference announcing the two year contract extension of Detroit Red Wings General Manger Ken Holland prior to an NHL game against the New York Islanders at Little Caesars Arena on April 7, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - APRIL 07: Christopher Ilitch, President and CEO, Ilitch Holdings, Inc. Governor, President and CEO, Detroit Red Wings holds a press conference announcing the two year contract extension of Detroit Red Wings General Manger Ken Holland prior to an NHL game against the New York Islanders at Little Caesars Arena on April 7, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Amid the least successful years the Detroit Red Wings have seen in a quarter of a century, the team has decided that extending general manager Ken Holland for two years is a wise move.

Death, taxes and Ken Holland at the helm of the Detroit Red Wings.

There are some things you can just come to expect in life.

The Red Wings’ incredible 25-season playoffs streak came to an unceremonious end last year. The team, with one of the worst records in the league this season (30-39-12) with one game to play tonight), missed the postseason once again in 2017-18.

And amid all that, owner Christopher Ilitch has decided to lock down executive vice president and general manager Ken Holland for two more years:

Needless to say, the move is not popular among Red Wings fans, some of whom quite literally had not experienced a missed postseason in their lifetimes before 2017.

Case in point: this was the most-liked response to the Red Wings’ tweet announcing the move as of Saturday afternoon:

The hashtag #DeadWings was getting a lot of mileage on Saturday, to say the least.

Holland has been at the helm in Detroit since 1997, making him one of the league’s top two general managers with the longest tenures. And, surely, there have been a lot more successful seasons than not with him at the lead…but missing the postseason two years in a row with seemingly no plan for improvement in place isn’t sitting well with fans.

And the Red Wings have some serious contract issues they will have to address in the coming seasons. Frans Nielsen, Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm and Luke Glendening will all count more than $18 million against the cap in 2018-19, and it doesn’t get better thereafter.

Ilitch said he was “optimistic” about the future in comments made to media after the move was announced.

Next: The Greatest Offensive Franchises In NHL History

Coach Jeff Blashill has a year left on his contract, but there were on indications on what his future with the team will look like at the time of publication.

Stay strong, Detroit fans.

Home/Detroit Red Wings