Todd McLellan faced a lot of hurdles as the first Detroit Red Wings coach to join the team midseason in more than 40 years on Dec. 26.
He had little or no knowledge of the players, hadn’t worked with the coaches who remained on staff after Derek Lalonde was dismissed and didn’t have the benefit of any practices – let alone several – before having to step behind the bench.
In a span of 40 days, the Red Wings seem to have transformed into another team, moving up to the top wild card spot. They have fashioned two seven-game winning streaks and McLellan’s 15-4-1 record ties Mike Babcock for the best 20-game start with the club for a Red Wings coach.
McLellan was an assistant to Babcock on that 2005-06 team that featured future Hall-of-Famers Chris Chelios, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan and Steve Yzerman, a likely Hall-of-Famer in Henrik Zetterberg and a goaltender who won 401 games in Chris Osgood.
The current Red Wings have their share of talented players, but not quite at that level.
The Red Wings, coming off their first sweep of a four-game trip since 1996, will try to win their eighth consecutive game Saturday at home against Tampa Bay (1 p.m., ABC) in the final game before a 13-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. They haven’t won eight in a row since 2008 (Jan. 17-Feb. 5).
How the past eight Red Wings coaches have fared in their first 20 games:
Todd McLellan (2024-25): 15-4-1, 31 points
He took over a team that was 13-17-4 and has since strung together two seven-game winning streaks and capped its first 4-0 road trip since 1996.
Derek Lalonde (2022-23): 11-5-4, 26 points
The team was tied for a playoff spot in late February before three consecutive losses, including a pair of decisive defeats in Ottawa, prompted general manager Steve Yzerman to sell at the trade deadline.
Jeff Blashill (2015-16): 10-8-2, 22 points
The Red Wings qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the season when Ottawa defeated Boston. They were eliminated by Tampa Bay in the first round and haven’t been back to the postseason since.
Mike Babcock (2005-06): 15-4-1, 31 points
A 12-1-0 start included a franchise record-tying nine-game winning streak for a team that won the Presidents’ Trophy with 124 points (58-16-8) only to lose to Edmonton in the first round of the playoffs.
Dave Lewis (2002-03): 11-6-3, 25 points
Coming off a Stanley Cup championship and featuring nine future Hall-of-Famers, the Red Wings finished third overall with 110 points but were swept by Anaheim in the first round.
