Here are some of the media reactions to the firing of coach Derek Lalonde and the hiring of Todd McLellan:
MLive’s Ansar Khan notes that McLellan, who’s coached the San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, has a winning record:
McLellan, 57, has 16 years of NHL head-coaching experience with San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles, posting a record of 598-412-134 in the regular season and 42-46 in the playoffs.
His 598 regular-season wins are 24th in NHL history and sixth-most among active coaches behind Paul Maurice (891), Lindy Ruff (876), Peter Laviolette (823), John Tortorella (757) and Peter DeBoer (632).
Teams coached by McLellan have reached the 50-win mark three times and the 100-point plateau six times. McLellan’s teams have also advanced to the Stanley Cup playoffs nine times. He is a two-time finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year (2009, 2017).
McLellan was an assistant coach with the Red Wings under Mike Babcock from 2005-06 to 2007-08, when he left to become San Jose’s head coach after winning a Stanley Cup.
The Red Wings hired Trent Yawney as an assistant coach, joining Alex Tanguay and Jay Varady on the staff. The club relieved associate coach Bob Boughner of his duties.
Here’s the AP’s summary:
The Detroit Red Wings fired coach Derek Lalonde on Thursday and named Todd McLellan as his replacement.
The move the day after Christmas was announced by general manager Steve Yzerman and comes with the Red Wings on a three-game skid and having lost nine of their past 12. They’ve lost 21 of their first 34 games this season and are above only the lowly Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference.
Assistant Bob Boughner was also fired and Trent Yawney hired to work on McLellan’s staff. McLellan signed a multiyear contract to start his fourth NHL head coaching job after stints with San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles.
Lalonde was nearly midway through his third season with Detroit after winning the Stanley Cup twice as an assistant with Tampa Bay.
Here’s The Athletic’s Max Bultman:
As the team’s head coach, Lalonde bears his share of responsibility for Detroit’s struggles this season. But in many ways, he’s simply the easiest change to make with so many games left in the season.
Any path to the postseason now looks narrow, but in a weakened Atlantic Division, there is technically time for the Red Wings to be at least more competitive than they have been.
Still, any discussion of the Red Wings’ regression this season has to start with the team’s roster, assembled by Steve Yzerman.
Detroit lost several productive forwards this offseason, as well as two key defensemen in Jake Walman and power play quarterback Shayne Gostisbehere. That weakened the Red Wings’ scoring prowess and only heightened the need to improve their team defense, but few meaningful roster upgrades were made to do so — though young defenseman Simon Edvinsson has been excellent in stepping into a top pair role.
New goaltender Cam Talbot has been a success story in goal, but forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Erik Gustafsson (both free-agent signings to replace lost players) have disappointed.
The lack of help in free agency meant any improvement would need to come internally, through coaching and the growth of current players.
But that hasn’t happened, and Lalonde is now paying the price.
Here’s the Free Press’s Helene St. James:
Yzerman spoke before the start of the season of wanting to see progress from last season, when the Wings chased a playoff spot all the way till Game 82. But the Wings instead looked like they regressed: They’ve been mediocre at best, at times showing signs of a competitive team, but too often, looking immature and lacking in energy and execution.
They would put on a good performance one game – one of their best came Oct. 24 in an emotional and energetic outing against the New Jersey Devils, and their best performance, on Nov. 9, only failed to gain points because of New York Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick.
But then, a week after the Rangers game, the Wings had their worst outing of the first quarter: They had their game in Anaheim in hand, leading by two goals – only to disintegrate in a mess of penalties and turnovers, and handing victory to the Ducks.
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan also weighs in:
McLellan has 16 seasons of NHL head coaching experience, posting a 598-412-134 regular-season record and a 42-46 postseason mark with the Los Angeles Kings (2019-24), Edmonton Oilers (2015-19) and San Jose Sharks (2008-15). His 598 regular-season wins are ranked 24th in NHL history and sixth-most among active coaches behind Paul Maurice (891), Lindy Ruff (876), Peter Laviolette (823), John Tortorella (757) and Peter DeBoer (632).
Teams coached by McLellan have reached the 50-win mark three times and the 100-point plateau six times. McLellan’s teams have also advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs nine times, including six consecutive postseason appearances with the Sharks.
The Wings return from the NHL’s three-day holiday break Friday, hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Here’s the Hockey News’s Andre Leal:
The Red Wings have not made the playoffs since the 2016-17 campaign. That’s the second-longest drought in the NHL behind the Buffalo Sabres, who haven’t seen the playoffs in 13 years. Before this drought began, Detroit made 25-straight playoff appearances from 1991 to 2016.
Lalonde’s two-plus seasons with the Red Wings were his first experience as a coach in the NHL.
After spending several years as an assistant coach in the NCAA, he became the coach and GM of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers in 2011. Lalonde was awarded the Clark Cup as USHL champion in his first of three seasons with the team.
He’s also coached the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and Iowa Wild, the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild.
In 2018, the Tampa Bay Lightning hired him as an assistant coach to Jon Cooper. Yzerman, who was GM of that team at the time, eventually brought him on board in Detroit in 2022.
Lalonde’s coaching record in the NHL is 89-86-23 in 198 games.
Here’s NHL.com’s summary:
McLellan, who last coached the Los Angeles Kings last season, is 598-412-134 in1,144 regular-season games with the Kings, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks and 42-46 in 88 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He was also an assistant coach with the Red Wings from 2005-08.
Lalonde was 89-86-23 in 198 games with the Red Wings. He came to Detroit after four seasons as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning and helping them win the Stanley Cup twice.
The Red Wings (13-17-4) are seventh in the Atlantic Division and have not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2015-16 season. They finished tied in points with the Washington Capitals for the final playoff spot from the Eastern Conference last season but lost on a tiebreaker.
Detroit also fired associate coach Bob Boughner.
Lalonde is the fourth NHL coach fired this season, joining Jim Montgomery (Boston Bruins on Nov. 19), Drew Bannister (St. Louis Blues, Nov. 24) and Luke Richardson (Chicago Blackhawks, Dec. 5).
SI’s Nick Horwat offers the following…
Lalonde entered the 2024-25 season already on a hot seat as one of the most likely coaches to be fired. The Red Wings entered the holiday break riding a three-game losing streak and 3-7-2 in their last 12 games.
Currently sitting seventh in the Atlantic Division, the Red Wings were expected to take big steps forward towards a playoff spot. The Red Wings haven’t reached the Stanley Cup Playoff since 2016.
In 198 games as Red Wings head coach, Lalonde picked up an 89-86-23 record. Detroit was his first NHL head coaching job.
McLellan was among the leading candidates for multiple teams heading into this season, but never landed a job.
And the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton weighs in:
The immediate task for McLellan is an interesting one. To compete for a playoff spot would be difficult, but not impossible. The Red Wings are eight games back of a wild card spot as it stands, and while that isn’t an insurmountable gap, closing it would also require leapfrogging six teams in the standings. As of this writing, the team has yet to announce the timing of McLellan’s introductory press conference, but it will be interesting to see how he and general manager Steve Yzerman discuss expectations for this season and beyond.
McLellan also arrives in Detroit with some shared history. He was an assistant on Mike Babcock’s staff with the Red Wings from ’05-’06 through the ’07-08 season, a run that culminated in Detroit’s 2008 Stanley Cup championship. McLellan also served as head coach of Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, a team that featured Red Wing captain Dylan Larkin.
By the time of his firing, fan sentiment had clearly turned on Lalonde. “Fire Derek” chants came from the stands at Little Caesars Arena, and social media appraisals of his performance was (predictably) far more negative. Now the question becomes whether a different bench boss can engender different results.
Perhaps most significantly, the firing shifts the focus of blame within the Red Wings organizational hierarchy. Should McLellan prove unable to deliver the results Detroit expects (not necessarily this season, but over the course of his tenure), Yzerman will face more intense scrutiny than his fallen at his doorstep at any point during his return to Detroit as general manager.
Here’s Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:
It was abundantly clear in recent weeks that Lalonde’s message was growing stale. The Red Wings were listless on too many nights. They didn’t seem to have the right personnel to fit the defense-first system that he was preaching.
The final straw was a 4-0 home-ice loss to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 23. That was Detroit’s third successive loss. The Wings were outscored 9-1 in Lalonde’s final two games in charge.
“Obviously, our last probably two-and-a-half games, we’re definitely searching,” Lalonde said after that loss. “A little fragile.”
The Wings went into the Christmas break second-last in the Eastern Conference with a 13-17-4 record. They are also a dismal 6-9-2 at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit’s minus-23 goal differential is the worst in the East and tied for second-worst in the NHL.
“We need the break,” Lalonde said after the St. Louis setback. “There’s times you need it, there’s times you really need it.”
Evidently, what Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman was deciding is that what the team truly needs is a change.
