On this day in 1999, Brendan Shanahan hit a major checkpoint in a career that was already building toward the Hall of Fame. The Detroit Red Wings winger scored the 400th goal of his NHL run in a 1-1 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs, another milestone for one of the league’s most imposing power forwards.
Shanahan wasn’t done climbing the list after that. He finished his career with 656 goals and 698 assists for 1,354 points in 1,524 games, plus 2,489 penalty minutes. That put him in a rare class of NHL players to end up with more than 600 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.
His path to Detroit started long before that goal. The New Jersey Devils took him second overall in 1987, and he later suited up for the St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers and New York Rangers before returning to New Jersey to close out his playing days.
Once his skating career ended, Shanahan stayed in the game. He worked as the NHL’s senior vice president of player safety before moving into a front-office role with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014, a job he held through 2025.
In Toronto, Shanahan oversaw a franchise overhaul that included multiple general manager hires and the drafting of core pieces such as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The Maple Leafs reached the playoffs in every season of his tenure, even if postseason progress remained elusive.
Now that his Toronto chapter is over, the next stop is the part that has people talking. Detroit is still the organization most closely connected to Shanahan’s legacy, and a return to the franchise where he won his Cups would make plenty of sense.
For the Red Wings, who are trying to reach the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade, a familiar face with Shanahan’s résumé could be a meaningful addition. For now, though, it’s only speculation, and neither side has said anything publicly about a deal being in motion.
In Other News...
Red Wings May Have Already Passed On A Massive Dylan Larkin Return
The Dylan Larkin trade chatter that surfaced this week only adds another layer to a situation that has hovered around the Red Wings for months. Michael Russo reported that Detroit passed on a significant offer from the Minnesota Wild in June, a package that was said to be larger than the one now centered on Danila Yurov and multiple first-round picks. With Larkin holding a no-trade clause, any serious conversation has always had to clear a high bar, and Minnesota is among the teams on his expanded approved list.
For Detroit, the real takeaway is less about the specifics of any one proposal and more about how firmly the organization has treated its captain as a player it would not move lightly. Neither team has confirmed the details, and there is no indication a deal is close now, but the reporting suggests the Wild have been circling for a while. Even if the latest talks go nowhere, the fact that Larkins name keeps resurfacing in this context is enough to keep the rumor mill spinning around a player the Red Wings clearly value highly. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Drama Around Dylan Larkin Just Got More Uncomfortable
The Dylan Larkin situation has only gotten more awkward for the Red Wings, with the captains summer trade request still hanging over a team trying to steady itself. Larkin, who signed an eight-year contract with Detroit in 2023, left the club after making the request and was suspended, turning what should have been a straightforward cornerstone relationship into a messy public storyline.
The discomfort spilled into the broadcast booth during a Red Wings game, when ESPN analyst Erik Johnson took aim at players who ask out in the middle of a contract. Meanwhile, interim GM Shawn Horcoff has kept the door open on the roster side, saying the team is willing to listen on trade offers for Larkin and defenseman Simon Edvinsson, even as it hopes to get Edvinsson signed before the December 1 deadline. [Read more 🡒]
Ex-Red Wing Jake Walman Is Back In A Familiar Babcock Mess
Jake Walmans latest stop has quickly turned into another uncomfortable chapter under Mike Babcock. The former Red Wings defenseman is now with the Edmonton Oilers, but he has been made a healthy scratch in six of the last eight games, a striking development for a player who is the teams second-highest paid defenseman and was expected to provide real value on the blue line.
For Detroit fans, the pattern feels familiar because Walman has been here before: a strong start, a growing role, and then a sudden slide out of favor under Babcock. He has appeared in 11 games this season, has seen limited ice time, and carries a minus-5 rating over his last five games, leaving his place in the lineup unsettled once again. [Read more 🡒]