Detroit finally has someone steering the front office, but the Red Wings still aren't out of the woods.
Shawn Horcoff has been named interim GM, according to Chris Johnston, and he's been given the green light to negotiate contracts.
That's real authority, and it matters immediately for unsigned RFA Simon Edvinsson and pending UFA Alex DeBrincat.
But Johnston's report stops short of confirming whether Horcoff's authority extends to actual trades, and that's the question hanging over everything else in Detroit right now.
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Dylan Larkin's trade request has sat unresolved all summer, stripped of his captaincy while the front office searched for direction.
Johnston even noted it's possible Horcoff keeps the interim tag all season long, which raises real questions about how much power comes with a title like that.
Detroit finished 41-31-10 last season, 16th overall, under head coach Todd McLellan, a season that still ended with more questions than answers about direction.
Why the Larkin question is the real test here
Contract negotiations are one thing. Signing off on a franchise player's trade request is an entirely different level of authority.
If Horcoff can lock up Edvinsson and DeBrincat but can't actually move Larkin, Detroit is stuck in an odd middle ground, with a front office that can manage some business but not the biggest storyline of the summer.
Edvinsson has already committed to attending camp regardless of his contract status, giving Horcoff at least some runway to work with on that front.
DeBrincat has also said he wants to stay, which gives Horcoff a real chance to lock in an extension if that authority is genuinely his to use.
But Larkin's situation requires a different kind of green light, one that involves Minnesota, term, and a return package that a true, non-interim GM would normally be negotiating.
Detroit finally has a name running the show. Whether that name actually has the power to solve the summer's biggest problem is still very much unclear.
Should Shawn Horcoff be given full authority to trade Dylan Larkin?
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