There are some definite drawbacks to getting old, but one benefit is I can say I am one of those old heads who was privileged to witness the Detroit Red Wings when they were the class of North American professional sports. With 4 Stanley Cup championships, 6 Finals appearances, a 25 year playoff streak, 16 seasons finishing atop their division — with a streak of 8 in a row — the franchise was the definition of a dynasty, with nearly every hockey hall of fame-bound player wanting to don the winged wheel to get in on the fun. Of course there was the Russian 5, which was a hell of a lot of fun and signaled European talent was among the best in the world.
Sadly, it’s time to admit those days couldn’t be further in the rearview mirror as we prepare for the 2026-27 NHL season.
As Detroit prepares to open up camp, we received news that Dylan Larkin would report to camp and there would be no captain to start this season. While the Larkin news isn’t particularly surprising, the fact they don’t have a captain at the start of training camp is emblematic of the state of the organization.
Moritz Seider is the obvious choice as the organization’s next leader, but I suspect naming him captain is a big enough honor where the organization would need to hold a press conference. Why wouldn’t Chris Ilitch want to do that? Because it would be uncomfortable for him, given he didn’t speak to the Detroit fanbase following Yzerman’s removal two months ago; given the fact one of the people believed to be central to the re-org in Jeff Greenberg just publicly announced he was stepping aside to return to the Detroit Tigers; and the Greenberg news almost certainly indicating the search will begin anew after two months of dithering.
In short, the organization appears to be in total disarray.
Chris Ilitch isn’t the sort of guy who is going to bother standing in front of the media — even a sports media as cowed as the Detroit beat reporters — and have to respond to questions like ‘hey Chris, what have you been up to this summer?’
So there will be no captain, no head of hockey ops, and no general manager as training camp kicks off. The owner remains voiceless, relying on his social media team to push out statements.
This is leadership?
While on the one hand you can understand the desire to protect Seider from having to answer for an organization that is in total disarray, with an owner essentially in absentia, it only serves to highlight the total lack of leadership across the organization.
Head coach Todd McLellan — who has referred to his time with the Red Wings organization in the aughts as a sort of Harvard education — is the lone person in a position of leadership willing to use his voice, and while he’s certainly coached enough hockey to deal with the shitshow facing him this season, he has to wonder what to make of ownership that is asleep at the wheel and a former captain who clearly has one foot out the door?
If you’ve read any of my articles, it’s clear I’m not a flamethrower, particularly not in this current social media environment, but let’s take a look at what’s taken place since the final game of the 2025-26 season.
April 23, 2026
Steve Yzerman recommitted to turning things around in his end of season press conference that covered the team’s 10th straight season of missing the playoffs.
This is the last time anyone in a leadership position spoke in person in front of the media
June 4, 2026
News breaks that team captain Dylan Larkin requested a trade. No one in a leadership position with the Detroit Red Wings is made available to discuss the situation. This is the first time in the franchise’s long history a sitting captain has requested a trade, and the organization said nothing.
June 27, 2026
Steve Yzerman and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper conduct a video conference call to discuss their recent picks in the amateur draft. Yzerman indicates at the top of the call that he’ll have a statement at the end to discuss the Larkin situation. He confirms Larkin’s trade request and says he will do what is in the best interest of the Detroit Red Wings but takes no questions.
July 1, 2026
Detroit is fairly active at the open of free agency, signing two free agents and trading for Keegan Kolesar. The organization does not conduct a press conference to discuss their free agent signings.
July 15, 2026
It is announced that Steve Yzerman has been removed as the head of hockey operations and will have no role with the hockey club going forward. There is nothing beyond the release of the statement.
August 5, 2026
Helene St James from the Detroit Free Press indicates the organization has hired TurnkeyZRG to help them identify candidates for the open hockey ops position. Turnkey ZRG leadership has close ties to the Ilitch family and Olympia Entertainment.
August 6, 2026
In an appearance on NHL Tonight, Elliotte Friedman suggests current Detroit Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg is a name he’s not hearing from other sources but he believes may play a role in the new hockey ops department in Detroit.
It’s worth pointing out the MLB trade deadline was on August 3rd.
September 7, 2026
After a month of presumably being involved with the hockey ops search process, Jeff Greenberg publicly announces he’s formally removing himself from the search process and will continue in his role with the Detroit Tigers organization.
September 10, 2026
On his 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman says the Red Wings organization reached out to teams to request clearance to interview candidates but never contacted several of them to schedule interviews.
September 11, 2026
The organization releases a statement that there will be no team captain announced until they figure out who will lead their hockey ops department. For the record, Steve Yzerman was removed from his post more than 8 weeks ago.
For those keeping track at home, that’s 4.5 months since anyone in a leadership position stood in front of the media and took questions. It’s nearly 9 weeks since Steve Yzerman was relieved of his duties.
Elliotte Friedman has suggested Yzerman was let go, but people who claim connections within the organization suggest Yzerman stood his ground on his plan and told Ilitch that if he didn’t like his plan, he should fire him — or words to that effect.
At the end of the day, I don’t think it makes much difference how things transpired, other than to say if Ilitch intended to fire Yzerman, it displays a breathtaking amount of incompetence to do so after Yzerman ran the draft and signed free agents.
While Simon Edvinsson seems willing to report to camp without a new contract, it’s yet another sign of how poorly the organization is being run. With no general manager and no head of hockey operations, the expectation would be for the owner to give a sense of how things are trending, but Chris Ilitch only seems capable of issuing statements via social media.
Todd McLellan was clearly given full permission by Yzerman to speak his mind with regards to the state of the team, so with Yzerman now out of the picture, it will be interesting to see what McLellan has to say as training camp opens up. Without Yzerman’s support, we may not get the level of candor we’ve come to expect from the bench boss.
If that’s the case, we’ll have to continue to rely on leadership via social media post.
I’m a really old fan going all the way back to the Darkness with Harkness era in the 70’s. The best thing that ever happened to this franchise is Mike Ilitch buying it from Bruce Norris…The worst thing…Chris Ilitch taking over. I believe that nobody any good WANTS to work for Chris and that’s why this is dragging out. I feel that his hiding under a rock while the franchise melts down only validates my belief.
I miss the Russian 5.
As a kid I used to do play by play when I was practicing.
“Wings pull the goalie,
Konstantinov over to Kozlov,
Back to the point for Fetisov.
He sends it down low to the professor, who quickly slides it over to Federov.
Sergei over to Bojarinov.
He shoots he scores!!!”