Not long after Ken Holland received his contract extension, Craig Leipold, owner of the Minnesota Wild, and Jeffrey Vinik, the then-new owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, sought to hire Yzerman as general manager. After turning down the Minnesota job before the 2009–10 season concluded, Yzerman accepted the Lightning job and was named the team's new vice-president and general manager on May 25, 2010. In the off-season, and early in his new reign, he re-signed Martin St. Louis, signed defenceman Pavel Kubina for his second tenure with the team, signed free agent goaltender Dan Ellis to a two-year contract, signed defenceman Brett Clark and brought in left-winger Simon Gagné in a trade that saw Matt Walker and a fourth-round pick in 2011 depart Tampa Bay. In the middle of the season, he also traded for goaltender Dwayne Roloson as the Lightning progressed to the Eastern Conference Finals just one year after the team had not even qualified for the 2010 playoffs. For his part, Yzerman was nominated for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award, losing out to Vancouver's Mike Gillis.