September 15, 2026. Two months after now ex-General Manager Steve Yzerman was "promoted" by the Detroit Red Wings, a social media notification pings to tell me Shawn Horcoff has been named interim GM.
My initial reaction was to blow up. But the more I think about it, that reaction has only gained steam.
Incompetence at its finest
When Yzerman was relieved of his duties, the same press release said Shawn Horcoff was going to handle day-to-day operations. We even saw it in action when, about a week later, he signed goaltending prospect Carter Gylander to a two-way deal. So why wait two months to give him the interim tag? Because at midnight on September 15, the new CBA rules took effect. Max term on deals for your own players dropped from eight years to seven, front-loaded contracts got weaker and the cap on signing bonuses came down too.
Why does any of that matter? To that I say, where have you been? Simon Edvinsson, your number two defenseman, is still without a contract one week from preseason puck drop. It's really hard to sign players when nobody has the authority to sign them. Edvinsson's camp has said he'll report regardless of a contract, but he can't play in an actual game without a deal in hand. Every day this has dragged out was a day closer to Edvinsson losing a full year of term on his next deal, and Detroit let it drag out anyway.
Step back and look at the timing of the Horcoff announcement, and it reads less like a vote of confidence and more like a rush to finally do business that could have been handled months ago. And this doesn't even touch Alex DeBrincat, who's said he wants to sign long-term in Detroit if the option's on the table. The new CBA rules apply to him too. Every week ownership spent "being thorough" was a week closer to costing DeBrincat that same eighth year, on top of everything Edvinsson loses while management waits around.
Saying a lot while saying nothing
As soon as the announcement dropped, Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News and 97.1 The Ticket released a lengthy interview with Chris Ilitch. Chris waxed poetic about his love for the team since he was learning to skate at three years old. He talked about his quest to get this right and about not limiting the search to a made-up timeline. But in a league with a schedule, a prospect pool, roster decisions, trades, and signings, timelines are a very real thing. So whether you want to acknowledge that or not, the game starts to pass you by.
The interview rehashed well-worn talking points and revealed almost nothing new. We learned the organization is focused on hiring a leader for hockey operations who will then hire his own GM. We also learned that Ilitch says Horcoff is still under consideration for the job, directly contradicting what multiple sources have already told a lot of us. And we learned that ownership is fully prepared to run an entire season without a real general manager if that's what "getting it right" ends up requiring.
Where this leaves the Red Wings
Nothing has changed, and that's the part that gets me. Two months of "we're being thorough" ended with the exact same guy running the day-to-day that's been running it since July, now with a slightly better title and deadlines that are passing him by. Edvinsson's camp watched comparable deals get signed all summer while nobody with real authority picked up the phone. DeBrincat's now staring down the same clock. And Larkin's situation hasn't moved an inch, because an interim GM with no real mandate isn't the guy who's going to solve it.
All I want is an explanation for why "thorough" took two months to produce Shawn Horcoff's new door plaque and a statement that says "we need more time". A competent decision was the ask all along. Right now, this organization has given us neither the speed nor the competence, and training camp starts on Friday.
Add us as a preferred source on Google