Yahoo Sports Breaking: Red Wings Fire Lalonde, McLellan Named Replacement
This afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings announced the firing of coach Derek Lalonde. He will be replaced by Todd McLellan, who has 16 seasons of NHL head coaching experience, split between the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and San Jose Sharks. McLellan is not an interim hire. Instead, the team announced that he has agreed to a "multi-year" deal to become the 29th head coach in franchise history (though the precise term was not specified).
Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images
While the timing of the firing—coming as it does the day after Christmas—is perhaps harsh, the announcement of Lalonde's firing comes as no real surprise. The Red Wings sit at 13–17–4, second to last in the Eastern Conference. While Detroit was reluctant to name the postseason this year (for pragmatic reasons as much as any other) as a necessary objective for the season, there can be no denying that the start to the year fell well short of expectations. That was never clearer than when the boos rained down on the Red Wings as they left the ice Monday night following a 4–0 shutout loss to the St. Louis Blues.
The extent to which Lalonde is to blame for that start is a trickier question. The Red Wings did not enjoy a successful offseason, allowing a number of valuable pieces of the team to walk in free agency, while their replacements have struggled to live up to the billing. In comparing this Detroit roster to the teams around the East with serious playoff aspirations, it clearly falls short. Nonetheless, a sense persists that Lalonde wasn't getting the most out of what talent he did have available to him. Most acutely, the Red Wings never showed the sort of consistent defensive solidity they named as an objective heading into the season.
In addition to firing Lalonde, Detroit also lets go of assistant coach Bob Boughner, who was responsible for a penalty kill that has just a 68.8% success rate, second worst in the NHL. (At least for the time being, it appears assistants Alex Tanguay and Jay Varady will retain their posts). Along with McLellan, the Red Wings brought in Trent Yawney as a new assistant coach. Yawney has previously served as an assistant for the Los Angeles Kings, Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, Sharks, and Chicago Blackhawks. He was on staff under McLellan during his tenures in Los Angeles and San Jose.
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.
Also from THN Detroit
Three Keys for Team USA to Repeat at World Juniors
Red Wings Wrong Strategy Proving Costly
No Reason to Cheer as Red Wings Blanked 4–0 by Visiting Blues
What to Watch For: Red Wings Prospects at the World Junior
