The Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman played his entire 20-season NHL career for Detroit, winning the Stanley Cup four times (1997, 1998, 2002, 2008), and is the highest-scoring defenseman in Red Wings history with 1,142 points (264 goals, 878 assists) in 1,564 regular-season games. He scored 183 points (54 goals, 129 assists) in 263 Stanley Cup Playoff games, an NHL record for most played for one team, and won the 2002 Conn Smythe Trophy voted as most valuable player in the postseason.
"We've had discussions over the last month and a half or so about me joining the team again," Lidstrom said. "It's been on my mind, to be quite honest too, for a little bit of time. I wanted to give back and get involved with hockey again, and especially with the Wings and when the opportunity presented itself, I thought it was good timing for me, for my family, to join the Wings again. So I'm really excited to have this opportunity to join the team again, or the organization again, I should say."
Lidstrom was Red Wings captain in his final six NHL seasons before retiring May 31, 2012. His No. 5 was retired in 2013-14 and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, his first year of eligibility. The seven-time Norris Trophy winner voted as the best defenseman in the NHL (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011) is a member of the Triple Gold Club with a Stanley Cup championship, a first-place finish in the IIHF World Championship (1991) and winning a gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Torino Olympics.
"One thing I do know, after being around and playing with him for such a long time, he knows the game, he knows hockey players and for all of us in the organization to be able to pick his brain, to ask his opinion, and get his viewpoint on whatever it is we're doing, it's a tremendous resource for us," Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said. "Our job ultimately is watching hockey, whether it's the Detroit Red Wings, the Grand Rapids Griffins (of the American Hockey League), pro hockey in North America, in Europe, amateur hockey. We've talked about it and I'd like him to be involved in every aspect of it.
"He can be a resource, not only for myself, for Shawn Horcoff, Daniel] Cleary, [Niklas] Kronwall, who oversee our player development, or for our coaching staff here in Detroit, for our coaching staff in the American League, he can be a resource in all aspects. To provide his insight, his opinions, just from watching, from viewing and getting to know our organization, but also knowing players all around the world. ... we encourage him and have asked him to get involved in every aspect of it."
Lidstrom, who will be based in Sweden, and Yzerman were Red Wings teammates from 1991-2006.
The Red Wings welcome Lidstrom, named one of the
["100 Greatest NHL Players"
to celebrate the NHL centennial in 2017, hoping to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16. They're fifth in the eight-team Atlantic Division.
"I think we all want to see the team and the organization make progress and become better and start making the playoffs again, so I think that's a goal for everyone," Lidstrom said. "And if I can be a small piece of helping out in different areas, or whether it's in amateur scouting or watching the prospects that we have here in Europe and overseas and in the U.S. and Canada as well, just helping and chipping in to help out to make this team better again."
NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report
