The Detroit Red Wings next GM will have full autonomy, and they could hire one or two people.
NHL Network: Elliotte Friedman was asked about the Detroit Red Wings GM search. They’ve hired a search firm to help with the process. The Red Wings could hire more than one person for their hockey department. They’re going to be asking candidates to have an organizational plan ready for the interviews.
** NHLRumors.com transcriptions
Tony Luftman: “We welcome in Elliot Friedman, and I’m going to start with the Winged Wheel and ask about their GM search. The Yzerplan is a thing of the past. What’s next?”
Friedman: “So, Tony, I think we’re about to hit a point where this is going to get ramped up. It was reported this week in Detroit by Helene St. James that they’ve hired a firm, and they’re going to do some work with that firm to identify some candidates. And that’s what’s going on right now. And I do believe they’re going to see their initial beginning interview process begin probably next week.
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And the way that I understand this, the most interesting thing that I understand about it, Tony, is that the Red Wings are very serious about making sure that candidates know, whoever gets interviewed for this job that they will have autonomy.
You know, initially the announcement they kind of talked about how Steve Yzerman might have a role going forward. That’s not going to be the case in terms of hockey operations. Some people I spoke to interpreted that to mean, like, oh, will Steve Yzerman still have a role in hockey operations? That’s not going to be the case.
The winning candidate or candidates will have autonomy, and the Red Wings are making it very clear that there is no shortage of resources here in terms of what you will need to do. If you feel you need something to do something. We’re going to make sure that you have the resources to do it.
And I think it’s going to be a wanted job. I think there’s a lot of interest. One of the other things I’ve heard, Tony, is that the Red Wings have indicated that they’re open-minded about whether it’s one person or two. You know what the person’s background is, it might not necessarily be “quote unquote” a hockey person, as we’ve come to define them. It might be somebody a little different.
And one of the other things I’ve heard is that they’ve made it pretty clear they want, whoever gets interviewed to come in with a plan. Like a specific, concrete plan of how to get the Red Wings moving forward. How to make sure that Detroit and Michigan is a destination, and tell us what is your plan to do it, and then we can hear specific actions, and then kind of figure out okay, this is how we can help you accomplish that.
You know, there’s been a lot of names out there and a lot of good names out there. There’s one name I want to mention because I don’t think it’s been out there a lot. It’s a play, It’s a person with a bit of a different background. His name is Jeff Greenberg. He’s the general manager of the Detroit Tigers. And Jeff Greenberg worked for the Chicago Blackhawks a few years ago.
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And I think that I, I think it’s wrong to say anybody is a lead contender or anybody’s got the inside track. But I do think he’s somebody who’s already in the organization who they have some interest in, and I think if he’s interested in the job, he will be a factor. Although I want to make it very clear, I’m not saying he’s the favorite or anything like that, but he is a name I haven’t heard a lot. Who I think will be part of this search if he’s interested in the job.”
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