ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton discuss “burning questions” for all 32 NHL teams this morning, and their take on the Red Wings’ most pressing issue is no surprise:
Detroit Red Wings
How will the new GM right the ship?This a two-parter for the Red Wings. It starts with who is going to replace Steve Yzerman as the team’s general manager? Yzerman stepped down in July, and the search for a replacement has been mostly quiet since then (other than Detroit Tigers assistant GM Jeff Greenberg pointedly removing himself from the candidate conversation).
What hasn’t been so silent is the reverberations around captain Dylan Larkin‘s ongoing standoff with the team following his June trade request. The club is under no obligation to let Larkin go to one of his few desired landing spots — the 30-year-old is under contract through 2030-31 with an $8.7 million AAV — and even if the Red Wings wanted to play ball, any return has to reflect Larkin’s status as one of Detroit’s top skaters (with 67 points in 74 games last season).
It’s a lot of drama for the incoming GM to tackle right away. If Larkin stays, how does that affect team chemistry? Does he retain the captaincy? The still-unnamed GM should have an easier time with another internal issue though — getting RFA Simon Edvinsson‘s next deal done so he’s ready to be in the lineup. Whomever fills Yzerman’s shoes will just have to show their mettle in a hurry.
Continued; yep, the Red Wings need a new GM, and that GM has to address the Larkin and Edvinsson issues, for starters.
