Detroit — The Red Wings ran an air-tight operation, with few to no new leaks sneaking through when Steve Yzerman was general manager. Since Yzerman was removed from that post last month, not much has changed.
Information is at a premium, and possible candidates for the Wings' GM position — who may have interviewed, who is being considered, etc. — are, in large part, anybody's guess.
There's one exception: Jeff Greenberg, the current general manager of the Tigers, the other team owned by the Ilitches.
Greenberg, 40, a graduate of Columbia Law School, isn't your typical "hockey man" — and, interestingly, that might just be exactly what Christopher Ilitch is looking for with this particular hire.
Tigers president Scott Harris hired Greenberg in September 2023, after the two worked together with the Chicago Cubs from 2012-19. Greenberg interned with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks and MLB's executive office during his undergraduate studies and during law school. Greenberg joined the Cubs in 2012 as an intern in baseball operations and climbed his way to becoming assistant GM in 2020.
Greenberg then joined the NHL Chicago Blackhawks in 2022, becoming an associate general manager and being credited for building one of the strongest analytic departments in the league.
It's because of Greenberg's potent analytical skills that make him an intriguing candidate to join the Wings.
Seeing the success of the Tigers since Harris has made them more analytics- and data-driven, along with much of Ilitch Sports & Entertainment becoming more data driven, Ilitch wants to see the hockey operation make the same leap.
Elliotte Friedman, the prolific analyst for Sportsnet in Canada and NHL Network, floated the possibility Aug. 7 of Greenberg moving into the Wings' vacancy. Friedman took note of Greenberg being a bit of an outside-the-box hire.
"The Red Wings have indicated that they're open-minded about whether it's one person or two, what the person's background is, it might not necessarily be a 'hockey person', as we've come to define them," Friedman said.
"It might be someone a little different."
Ilitch's familiarity with Greenberg, said Friedman, could be a positive.
"It's wrong to say anybody is a lead contender, or anybody's got the inside track," Friedman said. "But I do think he's somebody who is already in the organization, who they have some interest in, and if he's interested in the job, he will be a factor, although I want to make it clear he's not the favorite or anything like that."
It's unclear what kind of front-office structure the Wings will have in their new alignment. Would it be a two-person arrangement, with each person responsible for certain and separate departments? Or would it be the more traditional GM role with different departments reporting to that one person?
Greenberg has background in a variety of front offices, and different sports.
Greenberg has extensive work experience in baseball, but he knows his way around a hockey rink. Greenberg played club hockey collegiately at University of Pennsylvania, was a passionate Pittsburgh Penguins growing up in Pennsylvania, and did impressive work in the Blackhawks' front office.
Upon joining the Tigers, Greenberg talked about how much the Blackhawks' experience helped him.
"Going into hockey was an incredible opportunity to take on a new set of challenges and it made me a better leader," Greenberg said at his Tigers' introductory press conference.
"It made me think through problems the way I think can help us here."
At that same press conference, Greenberg laid out a plan of how he'd like to see a sports front office hum along.
“Certain buzzwords get thrown out a lot,” Greenberg said. “I don’t always know what they mean, if I’m being honest. It’s just about putting really good people together and empowering people throughout the organization to support that alignment, support good decision-making, support good development of your players and coaches.
“It’s less about buzzwords than it is growing a connective tissue between scouting, development and what happens in the big leagues, and drawing in support from all the essential areas of the organization.”
Jeff Greenberg file▶ Age: 40
▶ Hometown: He grew up in the Pittsburgh area
▶ Education: University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Law School
▶ Experience: Joined Chicago Cubs (MLB) in 2012 as intern in baseball operations department. Became director of baseball operations in 2018, director of scouting in 2019, and promoted to assistant GM in 2020. Joined the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) in 2022 as associate GM and credited with building one of the most impressive analytics departments in NHL. In 2023, joined the Detroit Tigers (MLB) as general manager.
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Could Tigers GM make move to the Red Wings? He has the credentials
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