Shawn Horcoff might be running the Detroit Red Wings front office all season, and the search for a permanent GM is still ongoing.
That's the word from insider Chris Johnston, who addressed the Red Wings management situation on Monday's Insider Trading segment.
Red Wings ownership is reportedly still searching for a permanent general manager, but there's no rush behind the process.
Johnston says the organization wants to find, in his words, an innovator, the right person for the job long term.
Steve Yzerman has led Detroit's hockey operations since 2019, so any shift at the top would mark a real change in direction.
Todd McLellan remains behind the bench through all of this, running a roster that's now answering to a GM working without a long-term title.
Detroit finished last season 41-31-10, good for 92 points across 82 games.
Todd McLellan coaches on as front office search drags on
That left the Red Wings 16th overall and sixth in the Atlantic Division, nowhere near where this front office wants to be.
The finish was worse than the record suggests. Detroit closed on an L3 skid, going 2-6-2 over its final 10 games.
Handing Horcoff the keys for a full season while still shopping the job publicly is a strange way to build organizational trust.
Every trade call, every cap decision, every scouting hire made this year comes from someone who might not be there in July.
It's a bit like putting a substitute teacher in charge of the whole semester. Kids learn something, but nobody pretends it's the same as a real hire.
Players talk. Agents talk. And prospects weighing offer sheets or extensions tend to notice when the guy across the table has no long-term mandate.
Front offices run on continuity, drafting philosophy, trade relationships, cap strategy built over years, not months.
An open GM search stretching through an entire season makes all of that harder to execute with real conviction.
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The Red Wings haven't named a timeline for the hire. And until Detroit lands its guy, every roster move gets read through a front office still auditioning.
Should the Red Wings just name Shawn Horcoff their permanent GM?
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