The Detroit Red Wings finally have someone in charge of hockey operations.
Unfortunately, they waited until two days before training camp to do it.
Detroit named Shawn Horcoff interim general manager Tuesday, nearly two months after Steve Yzerman stepped away from the position. Horcoff had already been serving as an assistant general manager and had been handling the day-to-day duties since Yzerman’s departure.
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That raises an obvious question.
Why didn’t the Red Wings simply do this in July?
There was nothing stopping Detroit from naming Horcoff interim GM immediately while continuing the search for a permanent replacement. Instead, the organization spent the better part of the summer looking for its next long-term leader while the roster remained in limbo.
Now, with training camp beginning Thursday, the Red Wings suddenly need a decision-maker.
Horcoff is that person.
And frankly, he probably should have been months ago.
Red Wings Could Have Ended the Larkin Saga Already
The biggest issue is Dylan Larkin.
Larkin requested a trade after last season and remains under contract through 2030-31. Detroit stripped him of the captaincy last week, but the organization said his future would be addressed by its new hockey leadership.
That was understandable if the Red Wings were expecting to have a permanent GM in place quickly.
They didn’t.
Instead, the Larkin situation has continued to hang over the organization all summer.
Perhaps Horcoff shouldn’t have been the person to make the final decision on whether to trade the captain. That’s a reasonable argument. If Detroit was determined to let its eventual permanent GM make that call, then Horcoff couldn’t simply force the issue.
But he could have been doing everything leading up to that decision.
He could have fielded offers.
He could have talked to other teams.
Horcoff could have determined what Larkin’s trade market actually looked like.
He could have gathered information so that the eventual GM wasn’t starting from scratch.
Instead, the Red Wings now arrive at training camp with the same fundamental question they had months ago.
What are they going to do with Larkin?
And even now, there is uncertainty about whether Horcoff actually has the authority to make that call. Detroit has said he will handle day-to-day roster decisions, salary-cap matters and hockey operations personnel, but reports indicate it remains unclear whether Larkin’s situation ultimately belongs to him.
If Horcoff can’t make the biggest roster decision facing the organization, then Detroit still doesn’t really have a person fully in charge.
Horcoff Now Has to Play Catch-Up
The other problem is that Horcoff has inherited a long list of unfinished business.
Simon Edvinsson still needs a contract. The Red Wings also have to determine whether there are any worthwhile free agents or professional tryout candidates who can improve the roster before the season begins.
The timing isn’t ideal.
Most of the significant free agents have already found homes. Most teams have already completed their major offseason moves. The best available options aren’t sitting around waiting for Detroit to finally appoint an interim GM.
That doesn’t mean Horcoff should panic.
In fact, the worst thing he could do now would be to make moves simply to prove that Detroit is finally doing something.
The Red Wings don’t need another body.
They need the right bodies.
Horcoff has been around the organization since 2016 and has experience as both an assistant GM in Detroit and GM of the Grand Rapids Griffins. He knows the players, the prospects and the organizational structure.
That familiarity should help him avoid making desperate decisions.
And perhaps that is the silver lining.
Detroit finally has a clear decision-maker heading into training camp.
Horcoff can now negotiate contracts, make roster decisions and manage the day-to-day hockey operation while the search for a permanent GM continues.
The Red Wings just didn’t need to wait until September to make that happen.
Two months of uncertainty have left Horcoff with a lot of work to do.
Hopefully, his first move isn’t to make a move just because everyone is watching.
Sometimes the best way to fix lost time is to stop wasting more of it.
Red Wings Made GM Move They Should Have Done Months Ago