The Detroit Red Wings fired head coach Derek Lalonde on Thursday and named Todd McLellan as his replacement. This change was made by general manager Steve Yzerman more than a third of the way into another disappointing season for the team, known as “Hockeytown.”
The decision came the day after Christmas, with the Red Wings on a three-game losing streak and having lost nine of their last 12 games. They’ve won only 13 of their first 34 games this season and are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, just above the struggling Buffalo Sabres.
Lalonde was in his third season with Detroit, after winning two Stanley Cups as an assistant with Tampa Bay. Yzerman had inherited Jeff Blashill as coach when he moved from the Lightning to the Red Wings in 2019 and hired Lalonde in the summer of 2022 to help lead the team back to the playoffs.
Despite signing three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane in 2023 and re-signing him last offseason, the Red Wings have not been able to reach the success they had during their glory years when they won the Stanley Cup four times between 1996-97 and 2007-08, with Yzerman being a key part of those championships.
Now, the team is on track to extend its playoff drought to a ninth year, which would be the second-longest in the league after Buffalo.
In addition to firing Lalonde, associate coach Bob Boughner was also let go, and Trent Yawney was hired as an assistant coach to work with McLellan. McLellan, who is 57, signed a multiyear contract to start his fourth NHL head coaching job, after previous stints with San Jose, Edmonton, and Los Angeles.
McLellan has led his teams to the playoffs in nine of the 14 full seasons he was head coach. He returns to Detroit after starting his career as an assistant coach with the Red Wings in 2005 and being part of the coaching staff during their 2008 championship run under Mike Babcock.
The Melville, Saskatchewan, native was hired by the Sharks shortly after his time in Detroit and led them to three trips to the Western Conference finals. Most recently, McLellan was let go by the Kings in February during the All-Star break and has interviewed for other coaching jobs since then.
This marks the fourth coaching change in the NHL this season and the 15th change in this calendar year, which includes Rick Bowness’ retirement in Winnipeg.
Other coaching changes this year included the Boston Bruins firing Jim Montgomery in November, who was hired by the St. Louis Blues just a week later, and the Chicago Blackhawks replacing Luke Richardson with Anders Sorensen in early December.
