Apr 4, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) skates against the New York Rangers during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images Less than five days from the two-month mark of the Red Wings relieving now-former general manager Steve Yzerman of his duties, the franchise sits stone silent, and according to a string of reports from well-connected insiders around the media landscape, the team appears no closer to finding a new man in charge than they were at the start.
So far, the only official news about the process has been the elimination of Jeff Greenberg and Kris Draper from their candidacy for their position. Meanwhile, several news sources – including Detroit Hockey Now – have reported in recent days that the team may not even be doing their due diligence with other names in the process.
some of them haven’t even gotten interviews,’ said insider Frank Seravalli. Elliotte Friedman shared a similar report on his 32 Thoughts podcast as well, stating that he had not heard that the Red Wings had conducted further discussions with some of the candidates they received permission to interview for the job.
That’s left Shawn Horcoff in the position for the interim GM role, though the former assistant GM to Yzerman is still having to manage the Grand Rapids Griffins roster as well. The Red Wings, meanwhile, have several looming issues in need of the attention of a top decision-maker that grow increasingly complex and, in the case of RFA Simon Edvinsson, increasingly expensive the longer the Red Wings drag out the process.
Headless Not to mention not following up with some candidates, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Red Wings also haven’t made any calls to New York Rangers associate general manager Ryan Martin. Martin currently manages the roster for the Hartford Wolf Pack, but spent many of his years cutting his teeth in the Detroit front office under Ken Holland and even for a couple of years under Yzerman.
Martin’s responsibilities with the Red Wings included managing the Griffins, CBA compliance, cap management, and player evaluation. Those last two should especially spark Red Wings faithful interest, with the team’s pro-scouting department and management of assets raising eyebrows his (and others) departure from Detroit’s front office.
That would check a lot of boxes on paper, though the Wolf Pack have not managed to make the playoffs under his tenure managing the team. Still, the Red Wings should have cast a wide net by this point, with nearly two full months of time to conduct interviews so far.
The Red Wings let Yzerman go after the free agency period had already mellowed out. What they have been doing in the time since is unclear.
Apparently they have not been conducting (many) interviews. They also haven’t been making any moves to trade Dylan Larkin, much to fans’ chagrin at this point.
Other reports point out that players and their agents don’t know who to talk to, or when they may actually start contract negotiations. It all adds up to what looks to be a tumultuous start to the season.
