The clock is already ticking for the Detroit Red Wings, and the most urgent business on their plate has nothing to do with training camp reps or preseason tuneups.
The real pressure point is Sept. 15, the cutoff to sign players to eight-year deals. If the Red Wings want to keep Alex DeBrincat and Simon Edvinsson on the longest possible terms, they need to move fast. Once that window closes, the best they can do is seven years.
That might not sound disastrous on its face, but that extra year of control matters. It matters even more if Detroit eventually puts itself in position to contend.
DeBrincat is the bigger immediate name in the mix. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, and he turns 29 in December.
The Red Wings need to know whether they’re building around high-end scoring veterans like him or looking to pivot toward future assets. There’s no luxury of dragging that decision out.
The good news for Detroit is that DeBrincat appears open to staying. He wants to remain part of the solution, and if the money lines up, he sees his future in the Winged Wheel. That makes this feel like a natural fit, and it also helps the Red Wings avoid a repeat of the Dylan Larkin situation.
Edvinsson brings a different kind of value, but one that could end up being just as important. He’s part of one of the NHL’s best defensive pairings alongside Moritz Seider, and together the two Europeans give Detroit a pairing that can handle just about any line in the league. If the Red Wings can lock Edvinsson in long term, they add stability on the back end and more flexibility as the salary cap keeps climbing.
That’s why the difference between eight years and seven is such a big deal here. The longer deal is simply more appealing for the organization.
All of this puts the next general manager in a tight spot. Whoever gets the job needs to come in and make a clear call on the franchise’s direction almost immediately. In the ideal scenario, Detroit has its GM in place by Labor Day and can use that early momentum to get both DeBrincat and Edvinsson signed to eight-year contracts.
How that new voice handles these two negotiations will say plenty about how he plans to run the Red Wings.
In Other News...
Dylan Larkin Just Got Pulled Into Trade Chatter Red Wings Fans Hate
Offseason trade talk has a way of grabbing hold of every big name on the board, and Dylan Larkin is the latest to get caught up in the swirl. The discussion around the Edmonton Oilers has already ranged across a handful of high-end players, from Quinn Hughes to Connor Hellebuyck to Chris Kreider, with cap space, team needs and player preferences all part of the calculation.
For Red Wings fans, the mere fact that Larkin is being mentioned in the same breath as trade chatter is enough to make the summer feel a little less quiet. The noise around Edmonton may keep building as the market sorts itself out, but this is also the kind of situation where one front office decision can change the whole conversation before anything ever gets close to serious. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Prospect Return Brings Relief And One Big Offensive Question
Eddie Genborgs return to the ice offered the kind of update Red Wings followers were hoping to hear after a quiet summer around one of the organizations more intriguing prospects. His preseason appearance in the Swedish Hockey League pointed to a player moving past the undisclosed injury he picked up in the AHL playoffs, and it also suggested he should be ready when the SHL regular season opens. For Detroit, that matters because Genborg has been viewed as a possible physical presence in the prospect pool, the sort of player who can make shifts more difficult for opponents.
The bigger question, though, is whether that blend of size and edge is enough for a system that still needs more offense from its pipeline. Genborg is not at Red Wings training camp, so there is no immediate chance to see how he stacks up against the organizations other young forwards in camp settings. His progress is encouraging, but Detroits long-term outlook still turns on whether enough of these prospects can do more than just play hard and win space. [Read more 🡒]
Max Plante Just Gave Red Wings Fans A Bigger Reason To Watch
Max Plante is adding another line to his hockey resume, and it is the kind that Red Wings fans can file away for later. The 2024 second-round pick has been named captain of the University of Minnesota Duluth for the upcoming NCAA season, a notable step for a player who already owns a Hobey Baker Award and has become one of the more interesting long-term pieces in Detroits prospect pipeline.
For the Red Wings, the appointment is less about the letter on his sweater than what it says about his trajectory. Leadership roles at the college level can matter as much as raw skill when a young player is trying to show he can handle the next level, and Plantes path will keep drawing attention as the season unfolds. The only real question now is how soon Detroit decides to bring that development under its own roof. [Read more 🡒]