Steve Yzerman took a flier with his first head coach hire as Detroit Red Wings general manager, bringing in Derek Lalonde, who had never served in that capacity in the NHL.
It didn’t work, despite Lalonde’s success as a head coach at lower levels and two Stanley Cups in four years as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Yzerman needed an experienced, proven NHL head coach for his second hire, which might be his last. He had to bring in someone who could immediately command respect in the room.
Todd McLellan fits that description. He was hired Thursday, signed to a multiyear contract, to replace Lalonde.
McLellan, 57, has 16 years of NHL head-coaching experience with San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles and ranks sixth among active coaches in wins with a career regular season record of 598-412-134.
The Red Wings are 13-17-4, two points from last place in the Eastern Conference. It’s not entirely Lalonde’s fault. Yzerman, in his sixth season, shares some of the blame with the roster he assembled.
But Lalonde’s message clearly had gotten stale in his third season. The team’s performance in the past two games — ugly losses to Montreal (5-1) and St. Louis (4-0), when the team was booed off the ice again – indicated a significant change was needed. The head coach usually is the one who pays the price.
The Kings fired McLellan on Feb. 2 of this year despite a 23-15-10 record. He was a Red Wings assistant coach from 2005-06 to 2007-08, from Yzerman’s last season as a player through his first two years in the front office under former GM Ken Holland.
Teams often experience an immediate bump with a midseason coaching change. A new voice brings new energy and players are eager to impress the new boss. So, expect the Red Wings, who play their next three at home starting with Friday’s game against Toronto (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network), to show some spark.
The playoffs, something this franchise hasn’t experienced since 2016, remain a longshot, however. The Red Wings are eight points out of the final wild card spot and having to leapfrog six other clubs makes it even more difficult. They would need to post a .635 points percentage in the final 48 games to match last season’s 91 points – and even that might not be enough to qualify.
These final four months aren’t about making a playoff push, it’s about showing positive signs and providing hope for the future.
They must show more offensive creativity (they rank 29th in goals per game). Lalonde’s defensive system might have handcuffed this team’s skill level.
McLellan, in charge of the Red Wings’ potent power play back in the day, needs to get more out of top-six forwards Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane and particularly Vladimir Tarasenko. He needs to tap into Michael Rasmussen, Jonatan Berggren and Marco Kasper’s potential.
