The Detroit Red Wings have announced Steve Yzerman is transitioning from his role as executive vice president and general manager and will continue as senior adviser to governor and CEO Chris Ilitch. The Red Wings will now begin searching for a new head of hockey operations.

“Steve’s lifetime of contributions to the Red Wings has meant more to this franchise than words can truly express, and I have the highest level of respect for his continued commitment to our organization,” Ilitch said in a team-issued statement. “We are thankful for Steve’s hard work and dedication as General Manager and are grateful knowing Steve will remain where he belongs — here with the Red Wings family.”

Yzerman will remain in his current role until his successor is named.

“I am sincerely grateful to Chris and the entire Ilitch family,” Yzerman said in a statement. “This organization has given me incredible opportunities, from my time as a player to the privilege of returning as General Manager. I’ve appreciated every experience throughout the years, and I’m extremely proud to remain part of this great franchise.”

Yzerman had been in his position since April 2019, when he returned to the only organization he ever played for to take over the hockey operations department.

At that time, the Red Wings were in the early days of a long rebuild, and Yzerman — fresh off a successful stint as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning — was seen as the obvious choice to lead it.

A Hockey Hall of Famer, Yzerman won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings as a player, captaining the team and leading it from an era of darkness in the 1970s and early 1980s into a golden age in the 1990s and early 2000s. The hope was that he could do the same as an executive.

But the organization’s challenges were daunting. During that golden age, which produced a 25-year playoff streak from 1991 through 2016, the Red Wings parted with many draft picks in pursuit of immediate success. As their star players retired or aged out of their primes, they had few top young players left in the organization by the time Yzerman arrived. Their drafting in the first years of the rebuild, under previous GM Ken Holland, compounded that issue.

Early on, fan support for Yzerman was strong. Yzerman’s status as a franchise icon earned him credibility in the market, and his shocking — but successful — first draft pick, Moritz Seider at No. 6 in 2019, fueled their belief in him.

Despite some early successes, the Red Wings struggled to take the rebuild from one phase to another. They bottomed out early in his tenure, as is common for teams looking to accumulate high draft picks, but even when the organizational focus shifted more to contending, the on-ice results stalled.

After a playoff streak spanning more than two decades, Detroit has now missed the postseason in 10 straight seasons, and this summer, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin — who looked like the centerpiece of the rebuild when Yzerman arrived — requested a trade from his hometown franchise.

“Clearly, we are not where we and our fans expect to be as an organization,” Ilitch said in the statement announcing the transition.