Detroit Red Wings interim general manager Shawn Horcoff held his first media availability session on Wednesday afternoon, saying that his immediate focus is the short-term future of the club.
A new era for the Detroit Red Wings has officially begun, albeit on an interim basis, as former assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff was named the club’s interim general manager on Tuesday.
Horcoff assumes control of an organization that, from the outside, is largely viewed as being in disarray, with former GM Steve Yzerman vacating his role in mid-July and Horcoff not being named interim GM until just two days before the start of training camp.
Of course, that's on top of the fact that the Red Wings now own the NHL's longest postseason drought, while also continuing to deal with the request of now-former captain Dylan Larkin to be traded.
During his first media availability session on Wednesday afternoon, Horcoff expressed his excitement in taking over what he described as one of the NHL's premier franchises.
“I'm excited for this opportunity," Horcoff said. "I don't take this lightly, and to be the leader of the Detroit Red Wings organization, a storied franchise, in my opinion, one of the best franchises in the National Hockey League, is something I'm very proud of, and I'm going to take very seriously.”
Earlier this week, Red Wings governor and CEO Chris Ilitch explained during an interview with Bob Wojnowski that he had a "clear vision" for the franchise.
When asked to elaborate on details of what that vision entailed, Horcoff said that while he and Ilitch are in synch on the club's long-term vision, he's choosing more to focus on the immediate future.
“I will say this - in the long-term vision, Chris and I are completely aligned," Horcoff said. "We've had conversations on what I feel that needs to be, and Chris kind of made those statements, so I'd reiterate that we both share similar statements in the long term. I think kind of given the situation, I'd rather focus on the short term for myself."
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Horcoff then pushed back on what he felt was "noise" from the outside suggesting the Red Wings weren't active in preparations for the 2026-27 campaign.
“I want to focus on this season and moving ahead," he said. "One thing I want to touch on is that there's a little bit of a narrative out there throughout the summer- a little noise, I would say- that maybe things aren't getting done. I'm here to tell you we've been working diligently in preparation for the upcoming season."
Although the Red Wings' leadership change in mid-July understandably created some initial uncertainty, Horcoff said the organization quickly turned its attention toward preparations for the upcoming season.
“Obviously, when the announcement was made that there was going to be a leadership change, it took a little bit of time to kind of settle in," he said. "But shortly after that, it was clear to the people that were still here- myself, Coach McLellan, people in this locker room now- that it was time to get to work. And we were going to do what we could to prepare for the season and make the adjustments that we felt were necessary to make, and make sure we were ready for the upcoming season."
“At the time, we weren't sure where the leadership change was going to be," he continued. "But, in my opinion, I was hoping I was going to be involved in it. But at the very least, we were going to pass something on to someone who was forward-thinking, and again, moving in the right direction.”
Horcoff, who played over 1,000 games during his NHL career, was hired by the Red Wings as director of player development in 2016, and was later named GM of the American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins since 2021.
The Red Wings will officially begin Training Camp on Thursday morning at Little Caesars Arena.
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