Steve Yzerman may have stepped down as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to the season, but it appears the Hockey Hall of Famer is still heavily involved in the team's decision making.

Yzerman, 53, moved into a new role as senior adviser to the general manager in September, while the Lightning promoted Julien BriseBois to replace him. BriseBois told NHL.com this week that Yzerman has remained an integral part of the organization.

"I know he's around, because I'm there," BriseBois said. "But when I talk to people, they don't seem to grasp how around he's been all year.

"He's missed maybe a handful of home games. He's been at pretty much every home game. Usually when we're home for a home stand, he comes in from Detroit. He's been at some of our road games. I went and scouted with him to a number of [American Hockey League] weekends, junior games. So, he's been very involved.

"I talk to him pretty much every day. He was obviously very involved in the month leading up to the [trade deadline]. He was involved in all of our mid-year meetings. And I know he's been a resource as well for our coaches and our players. I know he's reached out to some of them; some of them have reached out to him. Obviously, he's been a great sounding board for me, but he's been a great sounding board for our entire organization."

Yzerman said in September he was finding it difficult to balance spending time with his family and the general manager work load. He's in the final year of his contract with the Lightning, though BriseBois said he's putting off a decision on his future until the off-season.

"I talked to him mid-year to see where his head was at," BriseBois said. "He said he still wanted to give it some thought, and we'd revisit after the season."

As to whether Yzerman, who served as general manager from 2010-2018 and is credited with building one of the NHL's best rosters in Tampa Bay, has been pursued by other clubs, BriseBois remained tight-lipped.

"Even if someone had, I probably wouldn't be telling you."

The Lightning have an NHL-best 51-12-4 record this season.