Detroit Red Wings Fire Coach Derek Lalonde, Hire Todd McLellan


Derek Lalonde

<p>Images by James Guillory-Imagn</p>
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Derek Lalonde

James Guillory-Imagn Photos

I The Detroit Red Wings made Derek Lalonde the latest NHL coach to be fired.

After a 13-17-4 start, GM Steve Yzerman relieved Lalonde and associate head coach Bob Boughner of their jobs on Boxing Day. The team also announced that it has signed Todd McLellan to a multi-year contract as the 29th head coach in franchise history. Trent Yawney also joins the club as an assistant coach.

The Red Wings sit in 15th place in the Eastern Conference with 30 points, eight behind the Ottawa Senators in the second wild card spot.

This was Lalonde’s third season as Red Wings bench manager. In his past two campaigns, his team has missed the playoffs, including a tiebreaker loss last season.

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 playoff appearances from 1991 to 2016.

Lalonde’s two 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 also coached the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and the 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 the team’s GM at the time, eventually signed him to Detroit in 2022.

Lalonde’s NHL coaching record is 89-86-23 in 198 games.

Now, in comes McLellan, who has been a coach in the NHL for 16 seasons.

This isn’t the first time he’ll be behind Detroit’s bench. From 2005 to 2008, he was an assistant coach to Mike Babcock of the Red Wings. Together, they won the Stanley Cup in 2007-08.

Following that time in the Motor City, McLellan spent seven years with the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks missed the playoffs only once, McLellan took them to two Western Conference finals.

Most recently, he was the coach of the Los Angeles Kings. He led them behind the bench for five seasons before being sacked in February 2024.

McLellan’s NHL coaching record is 598-412-134 in 1,144 games.

This is the fourth time the coaches have changed this season.

The Boston Bruins moved Jim Montgomery and made Joe Sacco interim coach. A few days later, the St. Louis Blues released Drew Bannister and attacked the inactive Montgomery.

After the season, the Blackhawks fired Luke Richardson and promoted their AHL team’s coach, Anders Sorensen, to interim coach.

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