We now know what caused massive rift between Dylan Larkin and Steve Yzerman

In a stunning move yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings announced that Steve Yzerman had stepped down as the team's general manager. Instead, Yzerman will transition to an advisory role while the team interviews candidates for a new GM.

While the Red Wings are pitching this as a promotion for Yzerman, real hockey fans can see this for what it really is: An upward firing.

It's a tough look for the Red Wings to fire a franchise icon like Yzerman, so instead they give him a cushy new job and call it a promotion to get him out of his role. It's a smart move, and frankly, looks long-overdue. The Red Wings have struggled to get back to relevancy since Yzerman's hiring back in 2019 and they are now at a turning point. Their captain Dylan Larkin wants out of town and the team cannot afford to have Yzerman bungle the move, something that he has managed to do thus far.

Yzerman had been playing hardball with Larkin since news of Larkin's trade request broke during the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the strategy doesn't seem to be working. Today, we learned that the rift between Larkin and Yzerman goes way, way, waaaaay back.

According to a report from Red Wings insider Ansar Khan on the Jason Gregor Show, Larkin has held a long grudge against Yzerman for nearly a decade. It's believed that the Red Wings' hesitation to name Larkin as the team's captain following Henrik Zetterberg's retirement has factored into the grudge.

It's worth noting, however, that Zetterberg had been retired for an entire season by the time Yzerman was hired as the Red Wings' GM. The team did in fact though take their time in naming a new captain following Zetterberg's retirement. Zetterberg retired in 2018 and Larkin was named captain in 2021. Again, it's believed that that hesitation caused a rift between Larkin and Yzerman that was never addressed.