Author: George Malik

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn and Scott Wheeler posted a “contention cycle” for all 32 NHL teams on Wednesday, and the Red Wings’ “window” to contend for the playoffs, if not more, is supposedly opening (under their criteria).

Not surprisingly, The Athletic’s Max Bultman questions that assertion this morning, and Luszczyszyn and Wheeler (and Shayna Goldman) then hedge their bets and suggest that, just maybe, the Wings aren’t going to contend for anything any time soon:

Bultman: As much as the depth let the Red Wings down the last couple years, I can buy a depth-based approach working for them down the line, when their farm system matures — although, full disclosure, I’ve been sort of expecting that for a few years now, with no real signs of it materializing. But even if it happens — which takes some optimism — Larkin’s seemingly inevitable departure means they’ll still need to find a true No. 1 center to actually become contenders.

I have a hunch Kasper will bounce back this season, and that would help. But even then, his ceiling is still probably more of a No. 2 than a top-line center. Danielson looks like he may end up as a bottom-six pivot. If that’s the case, I just wonder where they’d actually obtain a true top-line center in a post-Larkin world. The answer is usually the draft, but if the rest of the core — led by Seider, Edvinsson, Raymond and DeBrincat — stays solid, they may not be picking as high as those centers tend to go.

So I guess my questions are: For Dom, would subtracting Larkin be enough to get the Red Wings into top-five pick territory in the next year or two? And for Scott, are the centers in the next two draft classes real answers to their lack of star power down the middle?

Here comes the “womp-womp”:

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses four pertinent points of emphasis as the Red Wings begin training camp today at Little Caesars Arena. St. James includes the make-up of the Wings’ forward corps, defense and goaltending, as her main topics, as well as a blunt and succinct take on the NHL’s condensed preseason:

What’s different?

With the NHL schedule expanded to 84 games, the exhibition slate is down to four games – which means less opportunity for hopefuls to claim a job, as established NHLers will need to get their timing honed and see more time on the ice.

The Wings play on the road Monday, Sept. 21, at the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Pittsburgh Penguins, then host the Buffalo Sabres on Sept. 24 and the Blue Jackets on Sept. 26.

The Wings will have 49 players at camp, with 28 forwards, 16 defensemen and five goaltenders split into two squads (Howe and Delvecchio). There will be daily practices and intra-squad competition.

Continued (paywall); bluntly, the Red Wings and every other NHL team will no longer endure a marathon of 6-8 exhibition games played over the course of 2 weeks after training camp.

Instead, this year’s preseason is a sprint toward the regular season, which begins on September 29th, though Detroit gets until October 2nd to prepare for their home opener against the Rangers.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff suggests that Shawn Horcoff’s Red Wings team may finally give its younger players a chance to play regularly instead of keeping prospects stashed in Grand Rapids until they’re over-ready to skate in the NHL.

Duff cites comments made during Horcoff’s initial press conference as the Red Wings’ interim GM, as featured in a subscriber-only article on DHN:

Horcoff’s philosophy toward young players is very straightforward. He wants to give them a chance.

Not a guarantee, mind you. They still have to earn their opportunity. That’s the way it should be. Still, the opportunity will knock, and that’s all any player can ask.

“I think that’s something that in today’s game,” Horcoff said. “You’re starting to see more younger players make an impact, right? Whereas in the past, maybe it took those guys a little bit longer, and I don’t know why. Maybe the game was a little bit different, or a philosophy change around the league happened, but it is something that we have to look at.”

Continued (paywall); as Duff notes, Horcoff didn’t promise that he’s going to prepare a place for the Red Wings’ prospects to make the NHL roster per se, but he does want to infuse the roster with several bright prospects when he feels that they’re ready to contribute to the Wings’ cause:

Updated at 9:26 PM: Of further, late-evening note regarding Red Wings interim GM Shawn Horcoff’s introductory press conference and Horcoff’s vision for the Red Wings going forward:

1. NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika took note of Horcoff’s belief that the Detroit Red Wings do not merit a full rebuild…

The Detroit Red Wings have a direction. Shawn Horcoff made that clear Wednesday in his first public comments as interim general manager.

“A rebuild, to me, is out of the question,” Horcoff said. “We have too many good players in that lineup. Listen, we’ve been close. The last three years in a row, we’ve been really close. …

“We want to focus on what it’s going to take for us to get over that hump. We have lots of ideas on what it’s going to take and some of the things we can implement to help the players to do that. But we’re not looking backwards. We’re certainly looking forward up here.”

Horcoff insisted that he’s been working to build the Red Wings into a playoff-worthy team since he took over for Steve Yzerman in mid-July…

Updated 3x at 4:55 PM: So the Red Wings introduced Shawn Horcoff as the team’s interim GM today, and most of the scuttlebutt surrounded Dylan Larkin being injured and unable to participate in training camp.

Shawn Horcoff did discuss his vision for Detroit’s hockey franchise going forward, however, and it’s worth noting. The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker took note of Horcoff’s remarks… 

“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.” 

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.”

Horcoff also addressed Larkin’s situation as a disgruntled forward, too, but he did so obliquely, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff noted:

From the NHLPA:

NHLPA GOALS & DREAMS CELEBRATES BOB GOODENOW’S LEGACY THROUGH $50,000 EQUIPMENT CONTRIBUTION AND AN ADDITIONAL FIVE-YEAR COMMITMENT TO CLARK PARK COALITION

…Community hockey event brought together youth players, NHL alumni, Goodenow family and local partners in Detroit

TORONTO (September 16, 2026) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association’s charitable arm, NHLPA Goals & Dreams, and Clark Park Coalition hosted a special community hockey event to celebrate the legacy of former longtime NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow.

On Tuesday, NHLPA Goals & Dreams formally announced a two-season $50,000 equipment donation of 35 full sets of equipment in each of the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons to Clark Park Coalition’s youth hockey program. Additionally, NHLPA Goals & Dreams announced at the event a five-year commitment to continue supporting Clark Park Coalition’s youth hockey program through new hockey equipment, helping future generations experience the game in seasons to come.

“Hockey is a game that inspires people and brings them together,” said NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh. “We’re proud to celebrate Bob Goodenow’s legacy by giving back to the game he loved with the NHLPA Goals & Dreams’ equipment donation to Clark Park Coalition’s youth hockey program, helping support the next generation of hockey players in Detroit.”

EliteProspects/DLLS Stars/Shap Shots’ multi-talented Sean Shapiro weighs in on Shawn Horcoff’s naming as the Detroit Red Wings’ interim GM by examining Horcoff’s “old job” as one of the players who counseled Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn toward the end of Horcoff’s NHL career:

The Stars viewed Horcoff, the former Edmonton Oilers captain, as one of the new sounding boards for Benn, someone that would immediately step into that room as a louder, bolder lieutenant to Benn.

It worked to an extent, and while Horcoff’s on-ice play had diminished, there are people in the Stars organization, including Nill who have told me he left a positive lasting impact on Benn and the team in general.

Benn, rather famously, doesn’t open up about much, but I can tell you a few seasons back, the Stars captain told me that Horcoff, Rich Peverley, and Vernon Fiddler were amongst some of his better influences on him as a captain.

In many ways, that’s the situation Horcoff is now stepping into in his management career. He’s a guiding light of sorts, maybe not the final light, but perhaps the one that’s needed right now for an organization that is basically rolling back the same staff and plan from the past decade outside of Steve Yzerman.

There are parts of the new era already in place, Dylan Larkin may still be here, but his leadership authority, especially publicly, has been torched and it feels like a foregone conclusion that Moritz Seider will eventually be named captain. But outside of that, Horcoff is tasked with polishing things as best he can, trying to figure out a deal with Simon Edvinsson and Alex DeBrincat, while also balancing trying to compete, somehow, in a loaded Eastern Conference.

Continued at some length (paywall)

Updated 3x at 3:59 PM: As you know from the “Tweets of note” post, Red Wings interim GM Shawn Horcoff announced that Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin will not be participating in the start of training camp due to an upper-body injury suffered over the course of off-ice training this past week. Larkin was seen by team doctors and will be re-evaluated as necessary.

So, the news media understandably pounced upon this conveniently-timed news, starting with TSN:

Larkin, 30, was at the centre of a tumultuous offseason for the team, coming off a 10th straight spring without playoff hockey. The team’s captain, Larkin issued a trade request in early June, offering the team a preferred list of destinations. No trade could be found and the team announced last week that Larkin would be at camp, but had been stripped of the captaincy.

On Tuesday, Red Wings owner Chris Ilitch said Larkin spending the entire season with the team is a possibility. He has five years left on an eight-year, $69.6 million deal signed ahead of the 2023-2024 season. He is contracted through the summer of 2031.

In the weeks after the Larkin bombshell, general manager Steve Yzerman abruptly stepped down with the appointment of Horcoff on an interim basis coming on Tuesday. The former Edmonton Oilers forward remains a candidate for the permanent position.

A native of Waterford, MI, Larkin has 643 points in 808 career games across 11 NHL seasons, all with the Red Wings.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan confirmed…

Good afternoon.

I want to thank everyone who donated to both the server fundraiser and our GoFundme over the past couple of weeks.

The blog’s still up and running, which means that we raised the funds necessary to keep the TMR experiment going due to your generosity, and we were able to raise enough funds to pay our property taxes this year due to your generosity as well.

That’s not taken for granted.

This blog is always going to be a smaller-market blog, but its readers are tremendously loyal and dedicated to keeping both the blog going, and helping Aunt Annie and me when you can, and that’s incredible.

This month, we’re facing a different set of challenges.

The Detroit Red Wings introduced Shawn Horcoff as their interim GM today:

And here are some interesting Tweets from the presser:

The presser will begin soon and is being streamed on the official @DetroitRedWings website. pic.twitter.com/LKKtFFpwG0

— Michael Whitaker (@mwhitaker_89) September 16, 2026