There has been quite a bit of silence surrounding the Detroit Red Wings GM search. Unlike other clubs, there hasn’t been a flurry of names thrown around in the media.
Perhaps that’s just because the organization is early in its search. Perhaps that discretion is just by design. But there could be another thing afoot here.
It could very well be that the Red Wings already know who they want to hire. It’s just that they’re making sure they’re going to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is.
The name that most immediately comes to mind is Brendan Shanahan. The former Red Wings great spent about a decade as the President of Hockey Operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Since leaving, his name has bounced around in several roles. But he’s yet to land another NHL job.
So, would the Red Wings be the ideal landing spot? Most importantly, could the Red Wings have already made up their minds about Shanahan? There’s nothing in the media to suggest that. In fact, there really isn’t much of anything to suggest that anyone is a frontrunner to take over for Steve Yzerman at this point.
Assuming the Red Wings had already made up their mind about Yzerman, it’s fair to say that he wouldn’t be the GM. That job would fall to someone else. And the two most immediate names to take over would be Shawn Horcoff or Kris Draper.
If that’s the case, why not just promote them and get it over with?
Well, that’s the thing. Perhaps the organization doesn’t want to make it seem like they’re being nonchalant about the situation. The upper echelons may want to put both Draper and Horcoff through the wringer before finalizing their choice.
Red Wings want to conduct their due diligence before ultimately deciding
There’s a powerful reason for the Red Wings to do their due diligence before hiring Shanahan or promoting one of Horcoff or Draper. The organization will want to show it’s not being reactionary.
That's what a new report by the Detroit Free Press Helene St. James focuses on. The report states that the Red Wings have hired a search firm to continue with the pursuit of the team's next GM. According to St. James, the firm was hired at the behest of owner Christopher Ilitch.
The report also makes clear that the Red Wings are looking for an analytics-driven person to head the organization. The move looks to mirror what the Detroit Tigers did back in 2022 when they hired Scott Harris.
On the surface, it makes sense. The buzzword in the NHL now is "analytics". Anything that has to do with charts and advanced stats seems to be the best way to go. It's what the Moneyball revolution was to baseball about 25 years ago.
So, we shall see what the firm uncovers. The top analytics minds have already moved on this summer. The New Jersey Devils hired Sunny Mehta. The Toronto Maple Leafs resurrected John Chayka. Evan Gold has moved on to the New York Islanders.
That situation might lead the firm to focus on Brett Peterson, another of Bill Zito's lieutenants in Florida. However, given the juncture of the offseason, plucking someone from a rival organization might not be quite so simple.
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