Despite another season of the Detroit Red Wings missing the playoffs, they have decided to extend general manager Ken Holland for two years. It was announced today by Christopher Illich, who is the Red Wings governor:
#RedWings Governor Christopher Ilitch announces that executive vice president and general manager Ken Holland has been signed to a two-year contract extension.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) April 7, 2018
General Manager Ken Holland Gets Two-Year Extension with the Detroit Red Wings
Holland has been the general manager of the Red Wings since 1997 and has won four Stanley Cups with the team. He also was able to extend the Red Wings playoff streak to 25 straight years before it ended two years ago. Before serving as the Red Wings general manager, he was the director of amateur scouting for seven years and also one of Detroit’s assistant general managers for three years.
No one knew what was going to happen with Holland after the season. There were rumors that he was potentially going to walk away from the Red Wings and even potentially be the general manager of the new expansion team in Seattle. His team had three straight first-round exits before missing the playoffs the previous two seasons so that had to factor into his not-so-certain future as well.
Holland will have yet another daunting task this off-season as the Red Wings need to move some contracts in order to jumpstart the rebuild and improve for the future. He will again likely have to make some tough decisions with not just the roster, but also potentially head coach Jeff Blashill, who has just one year left on his contract.
Detroit finished fifth in the Atlantic Division this season with 73 points but missed the playoffs by over 20 points. Last year when they missed the playoffs, they finished seventh in the Atlantic and had 79 points.
Main Photo: MONTREAL, QC – NOVEMBER 17: Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland speaks during a Q&A with host Pierre Houde part of the NHL Centennial 100 Celebration at Bonaventure Hotel on November 17, 2017, in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Francois Laplante/FreestylePhoto/Getty Images)
