MLive’s Ansar Khan offers a few thoughts regarding the Red Wings’ hiring of Todd McLellan as the team’s new head coach:
Lalonde’s message clearly had gotten stale in his third season. The team’s performance in the past two games — ugly losses to Montreal (5-1) and St. Louis (4-0), when the team was booed off the ice again – indicated a significant change was needed. The head coach usually is the one who pays the price.
The Kings fired McLellan on Feb. 2 of this year despite a 23-15-10 record. He was a Red Wings assistant coach from 2005-06 to 2007-08, from Yzerman’s last season as a player through his first two years in the front office under former GM Ken Holland.
Teams often experience an immediate bump with a midseason coaching change. A new voice brings new energy and players are eager to impress the new boss. So, expect the Red Wings, who play their next three at home starting with Friday’s game against Toronto (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network), to show some spark.
The playoffs, something this franchise hasn’t experienced since 2016, remain a longshot, however. The Red Wings are eight points out of the final wild card spot and having to leapfrog six other clubs makes it even more difficult. They would need to post a .635 points percentage in the final 48 games to match last season’s 91 points – and even that might not be enough to qualify.
Continued (paywall)
