James Guillory-Imagn Images
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 coach Bob Boughner of their duties on Boxing Day. The team also announced it signed Todd McLellan to a multi-year contract as the 29th coach in franchise history. Trent Yawney also joins the club as an assistant coach.
The Red Wings sit 15th in the Eastern Conference with 30 points, eight behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild-card spot.
This was Lalonde’s third season as Red Wings bench boss. In his previous two campaigns, his team missed the playoffs, including losing out by a tiebreaker 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-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.
Now, in comes McLellan, who’s 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 for the Red Wings. Together, they won the Stanley Cup in 2007-08.
Following that stint in Motor City, McLellan spent seven years with the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks only missed the playoffs once, and McLellan took them to two Western Conference finals.
More recently, he was the coach of the Los Angeles Kings. He led them behind the bench for five seasons before being fired in February 2024.
McLellan’s coaching record in the NHL is 598-412-134 in 1,144 games.
This is the fourth coaching change this season.
The Boston Bruins moved on from Jim Montgomery and made Joe Sacco an interim coach. A few days later, the St. Louis Blues let go of Drew Bannister and pounced on an unemployed Mongomery.
Later in the season, the Blackhawks fired Luke Richardson and promoted the coach of their AHL affiliate, Anders Sorensen, to interim coach status.
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