The Detroit Red Wings’ offseason questions are already spilling into camp, and the biggest ones sit right at the top of the roster: Simon Edvinsson, Dylan Larkin, and what interim GM Shawn Horcoff is actually prepared to do next.
On the latest 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman said Edvinsson is in camp without a new contract, and that the summer buzz around the Red Wings pointed toward a bridge deal. Now, with the deadline for new deals already passed this week, the pressure is on to see how far Detroit is willing to go.
“If Edvinsson wants a term deal, we’re gonna find out how the Red Wings feel about that,” Friedman said.
That same uncertainty also hangs over Alex DeBrincat, who is a UFA. Friedman noted that if Detroit wants to keep him, it can’t use an eight-year deal anymore. Seven years is still available, but that shorter term would likely push the AAV higher than it would have been on an eight-year contract.
Kyle Bukauskas pointed to the larger CBA shift underneath all of it, saying the structure of contracts matters more now than simply maximizing term.
The other major wrinkle is what Horcoff’s arrival means for the direction of the team. Friedman said Horcoff’s comment that “this is not going to be a rebuild” stood out as newsworthy, especially because one of the stories circulating this summer was that the Red Wings were not interested in moving Larkin unless the return helped them right away.
Friedman also said Steve Yzerman had warned ownership that any Larkin trade would likely be more about long-term help than short-term gain, and that ownership didn’t like that idea.
For Friedman, the whole situation leaves Detroit with plenty to sort through - and Horcoff with a real chance to prove himself.
“You can have the broken one with only two legs in the corner, but you can’t have mine.”
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Red Wings Are Betting A Tougher Identity Can Fix Their Offense
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Kolesar is part of that blueprint, and so are players such as Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, who could help shape a lineup built around being harder to play against. It is the kind of identity shift that can be hard to measure in the moment but often shows up in the areas Detroit wants to improve most. The unanswered question is whether that added edge can translate into the kind of sustained offense the Wings have been chasing. [Read more 🡒]