Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen notes this evening that Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill is now the NHL’s second-longest-tenured coach:
After Paul Maurice stepped down as Winnipeg Jets coach today, Detroit Red Wings’ Jeff Blashill became second in seniority among active NHL coaches with their current team.
Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper is the seniority leader. He was hired March 25, 2013 by Steve Yzerman when he was the Lightning’s GM. Cooper has won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
Former Detroit general manager Ken Holland hired Blashill on June 9, 2015. Jeff Blashill made the playoffs in his first NHL season as head coach and then has missed the past five seasons. The Red Wings are in their fourth season of rebuilding under Yzerman, although the rebuild technically started under Holland.
The team has shown improvement this season under Blashill, mostly because Yzerman’s first two drafts are starting to bear fruit. His first two first-round players, Moritz Seider (2019) and Lucas Raymond (2020) are already among the Red Wings’ most top players. But this team still has a long way to go to be a contender.
Seider is really the team’s most important defenseman and Raymond is a first-line performer.
