Red Wings Ownership Under Fire Amid Worsening GM Situation

The Red Wings will have to go soul-searching if they are to mend these fences.

Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) warms up before a game. Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Over the last several days, things have gone from bad to worse for the Detroit Red Wings, if that were even possible, and they remain rudderless, directionless, and leaderless with merely days until the official start of training camp.

In a move that was perhaps long overdue, the Red Wings decided to head into the 2026-27 season without a captain, removing the 'C' from longtime No. 1 center Dylan Larkin with his well-documented trade request still unresolved as we approach the middle of September.

On Monday, Labor Day, Detroit Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg called "time" on his interest in the Red Wings' GM position and instead reaffirmed his commitment to his MLB club. That corresponds with previous reporting that indicated the Red Wings had hoped to name their new general manager by Labor Day.

And another very important third piece of business? RFA defenseman Simon Edvinsson remains without a contract, 14 months after he was first eligible to negotiate an extension on July 1, 2025. Translation: the Red Wings have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. Not until things become even more unhinged, and all roads point to Chris Illitch and Red Wings ownership.

Red Wings fans left fuming by ownership

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson (77) waits for play to resume after a timeout. Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For the Red Wings, the 2026-27 season is effectively over before it started, with the end result of the above drama all that remains to be seen.

Increasingly, especially after the Larkin announcement on Friday morning, social media has been inundated with calls to sell the team, complemented by scathing remarks on Illitch's lack of success, lack of urgency, and lack of direction. No report that comes out makes anything better, either. It's a dire situation.

According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, via his latest episode of the "32 Thoughts" podcast, the Red Wings requested permission to interview candidates for their GM vacancy, but never actually interviewed the candidates.

"One of the things out there is that Detroit has asked for permission for some people and hasn't interviewed them," Friedman said.

As for Edvinsson?

"I'd heard earlier in the summer that there was the possibility of something shorter. Well, now, if you want to go longer, it's changed," Friedman said, citing Zeev Buium's blockbuster contract extension with Vancouver as the driver of that bus.

Through continued inaction, Larkin remains with the Red Wings even after losing the captaincy, Edvinsson's price on a long-term contract has shot through the roof, and a potential GM in Greenberg has pulled himself from the race entirely.

And that isn't even counting the candidates who were left out in the rain, as Friedman reported above.