Shawn Horcoff just got his handcuffs taken off inside the Detroit Red Wings front office.
Darren Dreger reported this week, via Barn Burner, that Horcoff has been trying his best but effectively working as a GM with shackles on.
Agents told Dreger that Horcoff wasn't able to negotiate signings with any form of term. Not short term. Not long term. None.
That's a brutal way to run contract talks in this league. Negotiating without term is like trying to sell a house without being allowed to name a closing date.
How do you compete for term-sensitive free agents when your own front office can't promise term? You don't, really. You lose those battles before they even start.
Whoever set those restrictions made Detroit's business side look smaller than it needed to be, and that's on the people above Horcoff, not on him.
Dreger's report says those restrictions have now been more or less removed. Detroit's front office finally has room to actually operate.
What this shift means for Detroit's next contract talks
This report raises real questions about how much actual authority Horcoff has had up to this point.
It also lands at an interesting moment. Detroit heads into tonight's game at the Columbus Blue Jackets still figuring out its identity early in the schedule.
Term flexibility matters most when a team is trying to retain its own pending free agents or chase difference-makers on the open market. Detroit has both scenarios coming.
If Horcoff genuinely has more freedom now, expect it to show up fast, whether that's an extension getting done or a trade conversation moving with actual term attached.
Dreger's sourcing here comes straight from agents, the people who deal with Horcoff directly at the table. When they start talking about shackles coming off, teams around the league notice.
The bigger question hangs over Detroit's chain of command. Was this a change in philosophy from ownership, or just a quiet fix after enough people complained?
-
Dreger didn't say, and neither will Detroit, probably. But the next contract Horcoff signs or trade he makes will tell that story whether the Red Wings want it told or not.
Should Detroit have given Shawn Horcoff full contract freedom from day one?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Capitals give bad Alex Ovechkin injury update just days before season start
