{"id":830915,"date":"2026-08-30T14:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T14:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/830915\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T14:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T14:14:07","slug":"former-red-wings-exec-saddened-by-state-of-the-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/830915\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Red Wings Exec Saddened by State of the Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

During his time with the Detroit<\/a> Red Wings, Neil Smith served as head scout and assistant GM. He ran the club\u2019s farm system.<\/p>\n

Smith was instrumental in Detroit\u2019s masterful 1989 draft class. It was he who insisted that the team had to draft Sergei Fedorov.<\/p>\n

In short, the franchise means a lot to him.<\/p>\n

**\ud83d\udea8 “The Detroit Red Wings Are in Chaos” \u2014 Neil Smith Gets Personal**<\/p>\n

This one hits differently for **Neil Smith**.<\/p>\n

Neil spent seven years with the Detroit Red Wings organization from 1982 to 1989, serving as Chief Scout and GM of the Adirondack Red Wings. He watched the\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/RSCYMePe2q<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NHL Wraparound Podcast (@NHLWraparound) August 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have great affection for the Ilitch family,\u201d Smith said during the NHL Wraparound Podcast that he co-hosts with Vic Morren.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. and Mrs. Ilitch bought the team from the Norris family back in 1982, and it has done nothing but go up, up, up in prestige and in value ever since that time. Unfortunately, Mr. Ilitch has since passed, and Mrs. Ilitch is now 93 years old and still hanging in there. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s run now by their son Chris Ilitch<\/a>, who is obviously one of the Ilitch family and has the same brains and acumen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith Left Detroit For Broadway<\/p>\n

Smith left the Red Wings to take the position as GM of the New York Rangers. In 1993-94, he led that club to their most recent Stanley Cup win.<\/p>\n

However, Smith never lost his affinity for the Red Wings. And that\u2019s why he finds the current state of the team to be distressing.<\/p>\n

Detroit captain Dylan Larkin<\/a> has asked for a trade. The club removed Steve Yzerman as GM in July and, with just a few weeks until training camp opens, still doesn\u2019t have his replacement in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m really sad about is where the hockey team is right now,\u201d Smith said. \u201cDylan Larkin, a player that has given everything to the Red Wings, played on their last playoff team, is the captain of their team, has told the team way back that he wanted to be traded. <\/p>\n

In the Red Wings, Smith Sees A Franchise in Chaos<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was sad enough. Then Steve Yzerman<\/a>, a player that I drafted for the Detroit Red Wings, who became general manager after being in Tampa with the same role, has been let go after seven seasons of no playoff hockey. And now we\u2019re coming up to the end of August.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have a general manager. They\u2019re still on the lookout for a general manager. I don\u2019t know how it\u2019s possible that you could be at this point in the summer without a GM. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dylan Larkin saga continues to go on. He\u2019s going to have to either expand his list of teams that he\u2019ll let Detroit trade him to or just resign himself to the fact that he\u2019s coming back to training camp and going to play on the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd until those two things are ironed out\u2014 who is the GM and where is Dylan Larkin going to be this year\u2014 the team will stay in chaos until those things are figured out. And to me, having worked for that great Original Six team, that\u2019s very sad.\u201d<\/p>\n