I had talked about the possibility of Derek Lalonde losing his job with my The Flying Octopus compatriots, and when I did, I suggested that firing coach Lalonde would probably be fired as the beginning of a series of moves to be made by GM Steve Yzerman and the Wings’ management team.
I do believe that the hiring of Todd McLellan and assistant coach Trent Yawney will help an underachieving Red Wings team, but I also believe that the team needs to make a few personnel changes to assuage the losses of David Perron and Shayne Gostisbehere, who were never meaningfully replaced.
Given that the offseason feels like the time that teams truly address their roster issues, I’m not certain whether the management team will be able to accomplish their goals, but the team needs a net-front forward with size and an offensive defenseman at the very least, and there are players on the trade market who would fulfill those needs…
But GM SY is nothing if not methodical, and he tends to work simply. After firing the coaching staff, he’s going to assess the roster that he has as they play under coach McLellan, and then the team will try to make some calculated changes to the roster via trades, with the bigger swings to be taken at free agents during the offseason.
That’s how it’s going to work, for better or worse.
