Детройт Ред Уингз багийн шинэ ерөнхий менежерийн хүлээх эхний жилийн гол сорилтууд

As the calendar creeps toward September, the Detroit Red Wings are still conducting their search for their next general manager.

It’s late for an NHL team to still be looking for such an important top decision-maker; training camp opens in three weeks, and important business is still looming.

So, what are the new GM’s biggest tasks once the search concludes? Here’s an outline of the key components of that person’s first year on the job.

1. Finalize the 2026-27 roster

Really, there’s only one true “must” on the to-do list before camp opens on Sept. 17: the Red Wings have to get Simon Edvinsson signed.

The good news is, it should be a fairly straightforward deal. Detroit can take a few different approaches with the 23-year-old defenseman: a short-term bridge, a long-term extension or the five-year middle-ground deals that have been en vogue around the NHL this summer.

A five-year deal would be an interesting outcome in the Red Wings’ case, considering fellow defenseman Moritz Seider has five years left on his own contract, and having both top defensemen expire in the same summer wouldn’t be ideal. From a team perspective, the general wisdom is to sign building-block players for as long as possible. Still, there are enough comparable deals out there, so this one shouldn’t be too hard to put together.

Last summer’s long-term extension for Luke Hughes at $9 million annually provides a solid peg on a seven- or eight-year deal — the latter of which is only possible through Sept. 15, after which the new collective bargaining agreement takes effect. This summer, Brandt Clarke, Pavel Mintyukov and Šimon Nemec all signed five-year deals with cap hits between $7.2 and $7.4 million out of their entry-level deals. Edvinsson’s heavier role likely slots him in a bit higher, but still in the ballpark of $8 million annually.

A two- or three-year bridge is a bit murkier because fewer and fewer teams are taking that approach with top players. The most recent notable examples were Philip Broberg and Thomas Harley in 2024, with Broberg getting just under $4.6 million on a two-year offer sheet that brought him to the St. Louis Blues, and Harley signing for $4 million for two years. While Broberg’s circumstances with the offer sheet make him ill-suited as a comparable, the Dallas Stars surely would have been better off going longer with Harley back in 2024 — just a year into that deal, they extended him to a long-term contract paying him nearly $10.6 million.

With two years of cap growth, Edvinsson would likely hit at least $5 million on a bridge — and then likely eight figures annually coming out of it, which is why most teams go long out of an ELC — but it is technically an option if the Red Wings want to go that route.

Besides Edvinsson, there’s also the matter of how to approach the second-line right-wing spot. Patrick Kane held that slot for the last three years, but with Kane back with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit has to decide whether to fill that spot with a free agent (Eeli Tolvanen? Michael Bunting? Patrik Laine? Someone else?) or leave it open for competition among the existing roster.

2. Resolve (or at least manage) the Larkin situation

You didn’t think I’d forgotten, did you? Yes, in a perfect world, this would be part of the category above.

But while Dylan Larkin’s trade request is indeed a massive piece of business for the next GM to address — quite possibly the biggest decision the new boss will face in year one — it’s precisely that magnitude, plus the reality of the calendar, that could make it take some time.

Larkin is sure to face boos at Little Caesars Arena if he takes the ice for the Red Wings this fall. That outcome looks increasingly likely, given the timing of this hire. Boos or not, the new GM has to decide on the best course of action for the present and future of the franchise, not just the one that quiets things down the quickest.

And while Larkin’s saga can easily become a distraction in the short term, the new GM can at least manage that dynamic by setting some clear expectations for how they plan to proceed. Are they actively working to fulfill the trade request? Waiting for the right opportunity to present itself? Attempting to reconcile?

There’s an advantage to keeping all options open and the team keeping its cards close, but some level of transparency could help tamp down the wild speculation that is sure to follow Larkin into camp.

In the big picture, the job with Larkin remains the same as it has been since the request was first made: find the best possible solution for the Red Wings, whatever it may be.

3. Extend DeBrincat

Whether this one gets done in the first two weeks or lingers into the season, the timing is less important than simply getting it done.

As with Edvinsson, the possibility of an eight-year deal exists only until Sept. 15. But considering Alex DeBrincat will turn 29 in December, a seven-year deal is actually preferable in this case.

Either way, though, nearly any path to a short-term turnaround for the Red Wings involves extending DeBrincat, especially if Larkin is indeed dealt in the near future. Potentially losing the team’s two most consistent goal scorers (not to mention the two top hometown players) would be a tough way to kick off a GM tenure.

Since 2018, only 11 players have scored more goals than DeBrincat’s 266. None of those players are younger than him (though Auston Matthews is only three months older), and neither are any of the next 13. In other words: DeBrincat has scored at a high level for a long time now and has more tread left on his tires than his peers in that span.

The price to keep him will be accordingly high, as contracts continue to skyrocket around the league, but the bet here is that DeBrincat will be amenable to an extension in Detroit. Keeping him and his elite scoring ability would give the Red Wings a much more realistic ability to compete in the near future.

4. Evaluate players, staff and process

Once the immediate transactions are done, this is really the task that will define much of the new GM’s first year. As with the roster, the new head of hockey operations will be taking over too late in the calendar to make many major changes to any 2026-27 staffing, but taking the first few months to evaluate what (and who) works well and how the organization does things will be foundational to the key decisions that person makes next spring and summer.

The players are one thing — and yes, the new GM will need some time to figure out exactly what is in place and where the biggest needs are before the March trade deadline. But the roster is just the start.

You can expect the new hire to modernize the Red Wings’ operations, and maybe that part can begin during the season. Building out that infrastructure, though, won’t be an overnight change. It will take time. Front offices are growing larger, and scouting, player development, sports science and a robust data operation are all part of the equation. How much of the Red Wings’ current approach needs an overhaul remains to be seen — but that’s exactly what the next GM will be evaluating and updating upon arrival.

There’s a lot to do, both hockey-wise in the short term and operationally in the big picture, and not much time until the games begin. So, while all the attention right now is on making the hire, that’s really just the first step of many to come.