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Wings GM Holland gets new four-year contract

Colorado Avalanche v Detroit Red Wings

DETROIT - OCTOBER 12: Executive Vice President and General Manager, Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings address the media during a press conference to announce the retirement from hockey of Kirk Maltby #18 before a NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at Joe Louis Arena on Friday October 12, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

The Detroit Red Wings have given general manager Ken Holland a new four-year contract that runs through the 2017-18 season.

“Ken is regarded as one of the premier executives in the National Hockey League and has been instrumental in the success of the Red Wings over the last two decades,” Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch said in a statement. “Marian and I are extremely pleased that he will continue to lead our hockey club over the next four years. We feel strongly that stability is key to the success of any organization and having this new agreement in place with Ken is important to the organization and its future.”

Holland, meanwhile, told the Detroit Free Press that it’s “nice to know that ownership has confidence in me to continue to lead going forward.”

He also told the paper he plans to “sit down and talk” in September with head coach Mike Babcock, who’s entering the final year of his contract and has not said decisively whether he plans to remain in the position past 2014-15.

Holland became the Red Wings’ general manager in 1997 and has since become one of the most respected executives in NHL history. Detroit has yet to miss the playoffs since he took the job, and the club continues to draft and develop prospects well.

That said, Holland has faced increasing criticism over the past few seasons, as the Wings have failed to make a deep playoff run and high-profile free agents have either chosen to sign elsewhere or, in the case of Stephen Weiss, disappointed. So far this offseason, Holland has failed to land a top-four, right-shooting defenseman, something that Babcock has been pushing for.