The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton wonders aloud where Derek Lalonde will end up next, noting that the former Red Wings coach may have to take a step back to take a step forward:
By far the likeliest option seems to be returning to an NHL assistant role. He was Jon Cooper’s top lieutenant in Tampa Bay during the Lightning’s run to three straight Stanley Cup Finals (winning the first two), so perhaps a return to Tampa could be his first option. While that could very well prove successful, I suspect going back to the Lightning would make it more difficult to eventually return to a head coaching gig, as it would be difficult for him to demonstrate growth and new understanding out of a familiar environment.
If Lalonde doesn’t want another NHL head coaching job down the line, that doesn’t matter, but if he does, I imagine he would be better served finding a new current coach to learn and work under. He has a good relationship with Blues head coach Jim Montgomery, so perhaps that could be an option. Heading farther south in Florida to work under Paul Maurice with the Panthers could offer a different variation on the education in winning he earned under Cooper with the Bolts.
As a more off-the-board option, I’d also be intrigued by the possibility of Lalonde taking an NCAA coaching gig. He has experience at Denver University, and I think his skillset—as a communicator, in particular—would be well suited to a collegiate role. It wouldn’t be as lucrative as the NHL, but he would have more job security, and if he can abide the turbulent bureaucratic landscape around the NCAA, it might be more rewarding.
Continued; as Stockton says, Lalonde “worked” for the Red Wings far more often than he didn’t, and the end of his tenure with the team doesn’t mean that he can’t coach.
