While sitting in the basement of the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Red Wings have made a coaching change. The team announced that it had fired Derek Lalonde and hired veteran coach Todd McLellan as his replacement.
The Red Wings hired Lalonde in 2022, hoping he would help complete the team’s rebuild. It looked like Lalonde was on his way to that goal last season, when he led the team to a 41-32-9 record, which left Detroit just outside the playoffs.
Entering the 2024-25 season, the Red Wings hoped to end their eight-year playoff drought. Instead, a 3-6-2 run in December dropped the team to 15th in the East. In addition to being eight points out of a playoff spot, the Wings are scoring just 2.54 goals per game, which is 29th in the standings. NHL.
These difficulties prompted general manager Steve Yzerman to fire Lalonde, as well as assistant coach Bob Boughner, and replace him with McLellan. Trent Yawney will also come to Detroit as an assistant on McLellan’s staff.
McLellan has 16 years of experience as a head coach at the NHL level and has built a solid resume. During his tenure with the San Jose Sharks, from 2008 to 2015, McLellan led the franchise to a 311-163-66 record and six playoff appearances.
As head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, McLellan oversaw a rebuild and led them to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023. Los Angeles fired McLellan in February amid a disappointing run.
This will be McLellan’s fourth NHL head coaching job, and he brings a career record of 598-412-134 to Detroit.
One of his first challenges will be getting the most out of veteran strikers like Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko and Andrew Copp. Those three have only combined for 16 goals, and the Red Wings need more depth if they want to climb back into the playoff race.
