The Detroit Red Wings are hardly in an easy spot at the moment. The massive fumble that was the entire Dylan Larkin situation turned the organization upside down. The club not only has to deal with the prospect of trading their captain, but also find a new GM to replace Steve Yzerman.
However, the latest news regarding the Red Wings hiring a staffing firm to spearhead the GM search just complicated matters even further for the Dylan Larkin situation.
The issue has two layers to the matter. First, the hiring of a staffing firm means that the search process won’t be an expeditious one. It will take some time. Considering how staffing firms usually work, it could be weeks before a shortlist emerges.
Even if Detroit’s ownership points the finger towards candidates it wants, it isn’t quite so easy. Even if the firm stepped on the gas, it could still take weeks before the entire process, including negotiations, worked out.
If that’s the case, the search could well lead the entire situation into training camp. Teams wanting Larkin would certainly not like seeing the 30-year-old sit when they could have had him taking part in their camp.
That’s just the first side of the issue. The flipside could be even more complex.
Red Wings’ new GM has to trade Dylan Larkin
You have to think that part of the recruitment process will include questions about how the successful candidate would deal with the Dylan Larkin situation. It wouldn’t even surprise me if one of the interviews focused on a specific plan to deal with the situation.
The candidate with the best answer, at least according to the evaluators, wins.
That could make the situation even worse. What if none of the candidates has a magic solution to the whole ordeal? What if the best candidates can come up with is everything we’ve already speculated about herein?
That’s another needless layer of complication that the Red Wings GM search brings to the Dylan Larkin situation.
Nothing will happen until new GM takes over
Ultimately, everything will remain in suspended animation until a new GM takes over. And there’s no telling how that could affect the organization. Players are likely wondering what the future holds.
Assurances made under Yzerman would more than likely go out the window. Players that had certainty under the previous regime may now find themselves on the trade block.
That’s something especially concerning to impending UFAs. Moreover, the Red Wings’ new GM will essentially have to start from scratch. Unless they end up promoting someone like Shawn Horcoff, a new GM will need time to figure out the next steps forward.
Again, the selection process will likely favor the candidate who walks in with a solid business plan. But for an outsider, that’s not quite so simple. An outsider is not privy to information that someone like Horcoff is.
And, at the end of the day, promoting Horcoff would have been the best option. It would have saved everyone the trouble of the prevailing uncertainty.
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