It won't be long before NHL teams can no longer sign players to eight-year extensions - will the Red Wings have a new GM before then?
It won't be long before the NHL's deadline for teams to sign players to eight-year extensions arrives - September 15, to be exact.
For the Detroit Red Wings, that date comes just two days before the start of Training Camp.
As it happens, they have a pair of players whom fans would welcome the news of signing eight-year extensions: Alex DeBrincat and yet-to-be-signed RFA defenseman Simon Edvinsson.
An eight-year pact for either player would make sense for Detroit. DeBrincat is a proven goal-scoring threat on a team that has been starved for offense. This past season, he became Detroit's first 40-goal scorer since Marian Hossa in 2008-09, and at just 28 years old, he still has several more seasons of prime hockey in him.
Meanwhile, Edvinsson has developed into Detroit's second most important blue liner behind Moritz Seider.
DeBrincat became eligible for an extension on July 1, while Edvinsson remains a restricted free agent.
The only problem is that the Red Wings still don't have a general manager.
Steve Yzerman vacated the role in a stunning move in mid-July, and aside from a few brief statements announcing the leadership transition, the organization has provided no further official updates regarding its search, a potential timeline, or, more specifically, the candidates who have been interviewed.
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Furthermore, the Red Wings are now less than two weeks away from the start of Training Camp (Sept. 17). Last month, Edvinsson's agent Peter Werner indicated via the Swedish publication Expressen that they're in a holding pattern until Detroit's management situation is resolved.
Meanwhile, signing DeBrincat to an extension likely won't require much prodding from Detroit's next general manager. DeBrincat, a Farmington Hills native, was the one who wanted to be traded to his hometown Red Wings.
The organization will be banking on the lure of helping his hometown team return to Stanley Cup contention, while continuing to raise his young family in Metro Detroit, to play a major role in a potential extension.
Currently, the Red Wings have approximately $19.57 million in available salary cap space. With the cap rising, the funds shouldn't be hard to by.
That being said, the first order of business for Yzerman's successor will likely be addressing the unresolved situation involving Dylan Larkin, who requested a trade shortly after last season ended and has reportedly not budged on that request despite Yzerman's departure.
Detroit is facing far more questions than answers right now with Training Camp right around the corner, and it's not an ideal position to be in - especially for a club that now owns the NHL's longest active postseason drought.
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