The Red Wings' GM candidate list may be hiding Chris Ilitch's real plan

Jeff Marek floated four names on Daily Faceoff's The Sheet, weeks after Steve Yzerman stepped down on July 15.

Scott White of the Dallas Stars, Tyler Dellow of the Carolina Hurricanes and Tim Barnes of the Washington Capitals made the shortlist, and Marek walked back his own Jim Rutherford speculation as guesswork.

Every name shares a profile. All three are assistant general managers whose portfolios run through analytics and cap compliance.

That is not the resume of a hockey czar. It is the resume of a general manager who answers to one.

Detroit's own release asked for a new head of hockey operations rather than a general manager.

Chris Ilitch already runs this structure across town. The Detroit Tigers pair Scott Harris as president of baseball operations with Jeff Greenberg as general manager.

If Ilitch copies it, White, Dellow and Barnes are candidates for the second chair, not the first. The first hire has to happen before the second can.

That sequencing carries a cost nobody is pricing in. Yzerman runs day-to-day hockey operations until his successor arrives.

Dylan Larkin's trade request surfaced weeks before the resignation and remains unresolved. A departing executive may end up trading the captain, leaving new leadership to live with a return it never negotiated.

Detroit finished 41-31-10 for 92 points and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a tenth straight season. Roster urgency argues for speed; a two-tier front office argues for patience.

White, Dellow and Barnes keep appearing on other teams' lists, so this search shapes more than Detroit.

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