The Detroit Red Wings are mired in the NHL’s longest playoff drought, have their captain demanding a trade and are now searching for a new head of hockey operations deep into the off-season.
Wednesday’s bombshell announcement that franchise legend Steve Yzerman will transition out of the general manager roleto become a senior advisorsent shockwaves around the NHL. The Red Wings said the search for a new head of hockey operations is already underway, but it leaves the team in a state of limbo until a new hire is made.
Yzerman’s replacement will be given the difficult task of charting the path forward a team that seemed set to end their decade-long postseason drought for most of this past season before limping to the finish line with just nine wins in their final 26 games.
“Clearly, we are not where we and our fans expect to be as an organization” governor and CEO Chris Ilitch said in a team release Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to bringing in new leadership to build the championship-calibre organization Hockeytown deserves.”
Deciding what’s next for Larkin is paramount for the team and it remains to be seen if a new-look front office could convince the 29-year-old centre to rescind his trade request.
Yzerman’s options on the trade market have been quite limited after Larkin informed the team in June that he would only accept a deal to the Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers or Vegas Golden Knights. MLive’s Ansar Khan reported last week that Larkin has since expanded that list to also include the Dallas Stars.
The Panthers appear to be out of the Larkin sweepstakes after adding Brady Tkachuk in a massive trade with the Ottawa Senators last month, while the Golden Knights are also right up against the salary cap after re-signing Rasmus Andersson on a seven-year deal at a $8.5 million cap hit on July 1.
Michael Russo and Joe Smith wrote in The Athletic Wednesday that up until the Yzerman announcement, the Wild still believed there was a path to landing Larkin, even if their offer of a futures-based package hadn’t been enough to sway Yzerman as of yet.
The two wrote that a trade is not necessarily off the table now, but Minnesota will have to wait for a new head of hockey operations to assess the situation and then start from scratch with that person. Russo and Smith report the Wild stopped their pursuit of former New York Rangers centre Vincent Trocheck to focus of landing Larkin.
Trocheck was traded to the Utah Mammoth on July 1 in exchange for defenceman Sean Durzi, prospect Cole Beaudoin, and a 2027 third-round draft pick. The Wild meanwhile have a glaring hole in their middle of their lineup and there is no apparent Plan B if the team cannot land Larkin.
It’s unclear if the Stars are a serious suitor for Larkin, with the team’s off-season focus to date revolving around the future of winger Jason Robertson. Slated for an arbitration hearing next week, Robertson has already turned down one potential massive contract this summer.
The Stars appeared to have a deal in place to trade Robertson to the Seattle Kraken ahead of the draft in June, but the trade fell apart as the restricted free agent declined an eight-year contract offer from Seattle that carried a cap hit of roughly $15 million.
A Larkin-for-Robertson swap could be a dream scenario for the Red Wings, though it’s unclear if Robertson would accept a move to Michigan. He had 45 goals and led the Stars with 96 points in 82 games last season.
Larkin, who has five years remaining on an eight-year, $69.6 million deal, registered a career-high 34 goals and posted 67 points in 74 games this past season.
What to do with DeBrincat, Copp?
The future of other key forwards beyond Larkin is also in question for the franchise as winger Alex DeBrincat and centre Andrew Copp both enter the final season of their current contracts.
DeBrincat would be a heavily sought after option on the free-agent market in 2027, should he get there, after posting 41 goals and 85 points in 82 games last season. The 28-year-old forward became eligible to sign an extension on July 1 as his four-year, $31.5 million deal signed with the Red Wings in 2023 as part of trade from the Ottawa Senators.
Larkin carries the highest cap hit among Red Wing forwards at $8.7 million, followed by Lucas Raymond, who is signed at $8.075 million through 2032, and then DeBrincat and Copp ($5.625 million) join the list.
Moving either DeBrincat or Copp as pending unrestricted free agents this year would also not be without complication as both own trade protection. DeBrincat holds a 16-team no-trade clause, while Copp can submit a 10-team no-trade list.
Cap space available, but for who?
Detroit’s off-season to date has done little to inspire fans that a major step forward is ahead. The Red Wings added forward Viktor Arvidssonon a two-year, $10 million deal, signed goaled Daniil Tarasov to a one-year, $2 million deal and added Keegan Kolesar in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights in an otherwise quiet July 1.
The next head of hockey operations will have plenty of cap space to work, though limited options remain on the free-agent market. The Red Wings have $19.6 million in cap space, per PuckPedia, with restricted free agent defenceman Simon Edvinsson still in need of a new contract.
While Yzerman will still be in charge of day-to-day operations until his successor is named, negotiations with Edvinsson will likely fall into the domain of the new hire.
Forward Michael Bunting is the top remaining name from TSN’s Top 50 free agents on July 1, followed by veteran winger Mats Zuccarello and defenceman John Klingberg. Future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane is also still unsigned after spending the past two seasons in Detroit, along with forwards David Perron and James van Riemsdyk who also closed out the year with the team.
The future also offers no shortage of options for Yzerman’s successor, with Detroit projected to have $63.2 million in cap space next summer, per PuckPedia, with 13 players currently under contract.
Yzerman has been largely prudent with the team’s draft pick as the cupboard is only missing the team’s second-rounder in 2027 and their third in 2029 over the next four years.
Options exist for the Red Wings to push for a return for the playoffs,retoolor enter into a full rebuild and the wait is now on to see what paththe franchise will set.
