DETROIT — Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman knew his team needed a change. So did his captain, Dylan Larkin.
As a result, Yzerman and Larkin were each speaking to reporters Friday — the day after Yzerman fired head coach Derek Lalonde and replaced him with Todd McLellan.
“Our team isn’t performing up to what my expectations are,” Yzerman said. “Whether anybody agrees or not, I have expectations for the team, and they aren’t meeting them because our players aren’t playing to each of their own individual expectations.”
The Red Wings nearly ended their playoff drought last spring, missing out on a tiebreaker in the last minutes of the regular season, but they have taken a significant step back. And if McLellan is to right the ship, it’s clear it won’t happen overnight especially after Detroit’s 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.
Mitch Marner‘s third career hat trick spoiled McClellan’s debut, on a night when David Kampfscored his first goal of the season in his 500th career game and Nicholas Robertson also scored for the Maple Leafs. John Tavares had two assists and Joseph Woll made 23 saves for the road team.
Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson had third-period goals for Detroit, which has lost four straight. Cam Talbot started and gave up five goals on 21 shots, and Alex Lyon started the third period and finished with two saves.
The Red Wings entered the night at 13-17-4, seventh in the Atlantic Division and 28th in the league.
“It’s been a frustrating start to the season — we’re missing something,” Larkin said. “This is something you never want to happen — I really like Derek as a guy — but something needed to happen.”
The timing, though, couldn’t be worse for McLellan and his top assistant, Trent Yawney. Because of the NHL’s holiday break, they had to coach the Red Wings without a single practice in charge.
“Trent Yawney and Todd McLellan aren’t coming in here and waving a wand to change the forecheck, the neutral zone system, the D-zone coverage and the power play,” McLellan said after Friday’s morning skate. “There just isn’t time. What we’ve asked the players is to play harder, play faster and play a little bit smarter.”
McLellan does have ties to the Red Wings, having won a Stanley Cup with them as an assistant coach in 2007-08, but that was a different roster in a different building — Joe Louis Arena. Other than Talbot, whom he coached in Edmonton and Los Angeles, his only experience with one of his key players is having Larkin on his Team North America roster at the 2016 World Cup.
“Cam sent me a text after the announcement saying, in a nice way, ‘Again?'” McLellan said. “Team North America was a great experience, coaching so many great talents at 20, 21 or 22 years old. Dylan was a very responsible part of that team.”
On Friday, McLellan used Lalonde’s line combinations and defense pairs against Toronto, but Yzerman made it clear Friday that one of McLellan’s jobs will be giving more playing time to his young forwards.
