Detroit Red Wings training camp is here, a chance for hopefuls to stake a claim on a job.
Unusually this year, that includes the top spot with the team: that of general manager, or head of hockey operations. As of Monday, Sept. 14 − three days before the team is set to gather at Little Caesars for the start of official practices leading into a four-game exhibition season − the role remains vacant. Assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff is handling daily duties, but any potential trading or re-signing of players goes through ownership.
That level of turmoil is far from ideal, especially for a team entering the 2026-27 season humbled by a playoff drought that last spring grew to an active NHL-record 10th consecutive year.
Here's a look at where
the Wings stand as they enter the week of training camp:
A room with a view
There's a corner suite on the third floor of Little Caesars Arena in need of an occupant. It's been two months since Steve Yzerman transitioned from general manager to senior advisor, leaving open the role he had held for seven-plus years. Led by Ilitch Holdings president Christopher Ilitch, the organization is conducting a search that is "really super thorough," as a person with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press in late August. Interviews are on-going.
The organization brought in a search firm to help vet potential candidates. There's an emphasis that the new hire − be he named general manager or head of hockey operations − be fluent in analytics, given the role that aspect of running a team has taken around the NHL. The analytics-driven Carolina Hurricanes just won the Stanley Cup, following a two-season Cup run by the Florida Panthers fueled by the analytics department. That run was championed by then-assistant GM Sunny Mehta, who is now GM of the New Jersey Devils; he spearheaded their analytics department in 2014. The Colorado Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres are likewise deeply embedded in analytics.
Dylan Larkin trade request to address
Larkin said Friday will report to camp (to hold out would mean he would not be paid), simultaneously with the Wings announcing Larkin has been stripped of the captaincy. So many more questions remain for Larkin to address, and the prudent thing would be to do so on opening day of camp, rather than let it linger.
Among the questions: What pushed him, shortly after the season ended in mid-April, to request a trade? Was it spurred by missing the playoffs again, or had it been simmering since winning the gold medal with his fellow USA teammates at the 2026 Milano Olympics? (Fellow USA teammate Brady Tkachuk was traded from the Ottawa Senators to Florida Panthers in June, and fellow USA teammate and Michigander Connor Hellebuyck has asked out of Winnipeg.)
Did Larkin consider the trade might not happen?
When he made the request, the 30-year-old native of Waterford would only approve a trade to the Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights or Panthers. The Panthers and Golden Knights have shown limited interest; the Wild have shown more, but not enough.
Yzerman told Larkin's side at the time the request was made that it might not come to fruition. Among the issues is the fact that Larkin is the Wings' top center, he is a consistent 30-goal scorer, and he is signed for five more years with an $8.7 million annual average value. Not only is that a very favorable salary cap hit, the Wings already have paid Larkin $31 million in actual salary on the eight year, $69.6 million contract he signed in March 2023. In actual salary, he makes $8 million each of the next three seasons, then $7.6 million in 2029-30 and $7 million in the last season of the deal.
The Wings have wanted value-now players in return for what is one of their top assets, made all the more necessary by how thin they are at the center position.
Simon Edvinsson in need of a contract
Edvinsson, a top-four workhorse on the back end, is a restricted free agent in need of a new contract. The expectation is he'll report to camp regardless; he/his agency would need to arrange for insurance. That's a generous approach, one that not only benefits Edvinsson (from not missing out on crucial practices) but also the Wings, given the 23-year-old's importance.
It's an unusual situation for a team not to have someone with whom agents can negotiate and, in this case, likely costly. Had the Wings signed Edvinsson early in the offseason, he might have come in at or below Moritz Seider's $8.55 million cap hit. But the Vancouver Canucks just extended defenseman Zeev Buium for eight years at a $9.38 million annual value, and he's played 76 career NHL games to Edvinsson's 175.
The Wings have through Tuesday to sign Edvinsson for eight years; after that, new rules limiting the maximum own-player contract to seven years come into effect.
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 3 storylines I'm watching when Red Wings open NHL training camp
