Detroit Icon Sure Sounds Like he Could be Red Wings GM

Henrik Zetterberg has made it abundantly clear that he has no desire to work in the front office of the Detroit Red Wings.

The funny thing is that right about now, the last Red Wings captain to lead the team into the Stanley Cup playoffs is sure sounding like a Detroit GM.

“When you lose a player who scores 30 goals, it doesn’t happen that often,” Zetterberg recently told Swedish website Hockey Sverige. “We’ll have to spread his 30 out over five or six other players instead.”

Zetterberg could easily be talking about the impending departure of his replacement, Detroit captain Dylan Larkin. The perennial 30-goal scorer is requesting that the Red Wings trade him.

He’s not, though. Zetterberg is speaking in his current role as part of the sports council at Timra, the Swedish club he played for before coming to the Red Wings.

Timra will be without 30-goal scorer Jonathan Dahlen next season. They’ve also lost Emil Pettersson, the club’s second-leading scorer from 2025-26.

Much like the Wings, who’ve seen Patrick Kane depart and may very well also be losing Larkin, Zetterberg and Timra are wondering where the goals will come from this season.

The club’s top returning scorer is Red Wings prospect Eddie Genborg. The player Detroit took 44th overall in the 2025 NHL entry draft was good for nine goals and 25 points for Timra last season.

Looking to fill their offensive void, Timra is turning to a player who was once on the Red Wings’ radar. In the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit made Finnish center Otto Kivenmaki the 191st overall selection.

After accumulating 134 points in 154 games over the past two seasons in Finland’s SM-liiga, Kivenmaki inked a pact with Timra for this season.

“We really believe in the squad we have,” Zetterberg said. “It will be fun with a little fresh start with a little bit of everything.

“Others are also getting more space and opportunities to develop and take steps in their careers.”

So no, Zetterberg isn’t a candidate to be the next GM of the Red Wings. He’ll just be dealing with similar issues to whoever it is that eventually gets the Detroit job.