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Detroit Red Wings revisited: When Steve Yzerman was a consolation prize

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman explains his trade deadline decisions. Filmed Feb. 24, 2020 in Detroit. Detroit Free Press

It sounds incredulous now, but there was a time the Detroit Red Wings considered Steve Yzerman a consolation prize.

Yzerman, who turns 55 on May 9, has spent more than half of his life with the Wings. In this edition of Red Wings revisited, a series designed to distract while the hockey world is shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we look back at the time he was drafted.

The 1983 NHL draft was the first one run by Jimmy Devellano since being named general manager of the Wings on July 12, 1982, weeks after Mike Ilitch bought the franchise from Bruce Norris.