The Detroit Red Wings parted ways with GM Steve Yzerman this summer but have yet to hire a successor. Which candidates could wind up being hired to replace Yzerman?
Since the Detroit Red Wings announced GM Steve Yzerman had stepped down, fans have been waiting patiently for the team to hire his replacement.
Summer has come and gone and we are now a week away from training camp with no plans for Yzerman’s successor, adding more frustration and uncertainty to a fanbase that once cheered for a gold-standard organization.
Sportsnet’s Eliotte Friedman reported Monday that Detroit Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg has withdrawn from consideration for the Red Wings GM job. Who remains as potential candidates for the job, and what should the Wings be looking for in a replacement for Yzerman?
For starters, there are internal candidates — Detroit’s assistant GMs and former NHLers Kris Draper (director of amateur scouting) and Shawn Horcoff (GM of the AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins).
Both Draper and Horcoff know the ins and outs of the organization, and the Red Wings need their next GM to be heavily involved with identifying young talent as the franchise moves into a new era.
But according to Friedman, a prominent external candidate is Andrew Thomas, an assistant GM with the Tigers.
“I don't know that Andrew Thomas is going to be ready for this now, but I've heard that they think very highly of him,” Friedman said in an episode of his 32 Thoughts podcast in August. “That's a name to remember, although I'm not convinced the opportunity is going to be his now."
Meanwhile, it's this writer's opinion that Red Wings icon and former Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan would also be a candidate for the GM job. Shanahan has significant experience as a manager and he knows the Detroit market like the back of his hand.
It would’ve been ideal for Detroit ownership to decide on a new GM well in advance of the season. Remember, this team has a clear-and-present emergency to address in the form of captain Dylan Larkin’s trade demand.
The next GM will be under the gun immediately to bring an end to the Larkin era and put together a trade that helps the Red Wings in the long haul. Whoever is next has to hit the ground running and immediately start pushing this Detroit team in the right direction.
The time for patience and calm has come and gone, and while every new GM needs some stretch of time to implement their competitive blueprint, nobody in Motown is prepared to waste more of their time, energy and money on a Wings team that doesn’t learn lessons about operating in the salary cap era.
There was a time when the Red Wings GM job would’ve been hotly pursued by just about every executive in the league, but those days feel like forever ago, and things have definitely changed.
That said, there are only 32 of these jobs in the world, and there are plenty of candidates who would love the challenge of restoring the hopes of this franchise. Whether it’s Horcoff, Draper, Thomas or someone else, the next Red Wings GM will have their work cut out for them.
Detroit fans desperately need to see some semblance of a long-term vision for the franchise, and that needs to happen much sooner than later.
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