Red Wings training camp kicked off Thursday, September 17, but let’s be real, this ain’t your grandma’s training camp. The whole squad is back on the ice, but it’s after a summer so wild, it’s gotta be a movie plot.
The Wild Ride Off The Ice
Let’s rewind to the headline-grabbing chaos, shall we? First up, captain Dylan Larkin asked for a trade. BOOM. Talk about a bombshell. Then, the general manager, Steve Yzerman, got axed in mid-July. Just like that. Shawn Horcoff, Yzerman’s assistant, had to step up as interim GM a mere two days before camp even started. And just to keep things interesting, defenseman Simon Edvinsson, a restricted free agent, is still unsigned. Coach Todd McLellan summed it up perfectly when he said, “It wasn’t a traditional summer.” No kidding, coach.
Getting Down to Business, No Matter What
Even with all that going on, the team is trying to focus. Larkin was at camp, but he wasn’t on the ice. Dude suffered an upper-body injury training earlier in the week, sidelining him from practice drills. Interim GM Horcoff is already grinding, working on signing Edvinsson to a new deal, and a contract is expected soon. McLellan admitted he was “disappointed” by Larkin’s trade request. He reflected on what he and his staff could do better, making it clear that “Coaches don’t trade players. Players don’t trade players.” It’s the management team and Dylan who gotta work it out. Veteran defenseman Ben Chiarot put it best, saying, “As soon as we got everyone here in the room, and get back on the ice, that’s all that matters. We have a good hockey team here. We’ve addressed the situations that needed to be addressed.” McLellan and Horcoff have been deep in the trenches, prepping for the season, knowing the “little things” all add up. Even with the big off-ice drama, they’re feeling prepared. They jumped in and started working together. During the intra-squad scrimmage, we saw lines like Andrew Copp centering Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond, Marco Kasper between Emmitt Finnie and Viktor Arvidsson, and J.T. Compher centering Michael Rasmussen and Keegan Kolesar.
This training camp is clearly about more than just drills and conditioning. It’s about getting everyone on the same page and figuring out how to move forward from a summer nobody saw coming. There’s a ton of work ahead, but at least the pucks are finally dropping, and the Red Wings are trying to get back to hockey.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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