After a disappointing 13-17-4 start to the 2024-25 season, the Detroit Red Wings are making a coaching change. Detroit has fired head coach Derek Lalonde, the team announced Thursday, and hired Todd McLellan to fill the position.
Lalonde took over the team in the 2022 offseason after Detroit moved on from Jeff Blashill, and the team improved in each of his first two seasons. The Red Wings went from 74 points in Blashill’s final season to 80 in Lalonde’s debut campaign, then made a leap to 91 points in 2023-24 — missing out on the final playoff spot by a tiebreaker.
Red Wings fire Lalonde and Bob Boughner, going with Todd McLellan https://t.co/gbbxwvUJPl
— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) December 26, 2024
But the Red Wings have taken a considerable step back this season, sitting 28th in the league standings as of Thursday morning. The team has struggled for most of the season to find any kind of identity and has particularly regressed offensively, currently ranking in the league’s bottom-five in goals per game (2.56) — and that’s with a power play that has managed to be top-10. The Red Wings’ five-on-five expected goal creation has been among the league’s worst. And their penalty kill currently ranks as one of the worst in league history.
Ultimately, then, it’s the totality of the Red Wings’ play that has put them in this position. Detroit had lost three straight entering Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs. Clearly, general manager Steve Yzerman wasn’t willing to wait any longer for the tide to turn.
Why the Red Wings made the change now
As the team’s head coach, Lalonde bears his share of responsibility for Detroit’s struggles this season. But in many ways, he’s simply the easiest change to make with so many games left in the season.
Any path to the postseason now looks narrow, but in a weakened Atlantic Division, there is technically time for the Red Wings to be at least more competitive than they have been.
Still, any discussion of the Red Wings’ regression this season has to start with the team’s roster, assembled by Steve Yzerman.
Detroit lost several productive forwards this offseason, as well as two key defensemen in Jake Walman and power play quarterback Shayne Gostisbehere. That weakened the Red Wings’ scoring prowess and only heightened the need to improve their team defense, but few meaningful roster upgrades were made to do so — though young defenseman Simon Edvinsson has been excellent in stepping into a top pair role.
New goaltender Cam Talbot has been a success story in goal, but forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Erik Gustafsson (both free-agent signings to replace lost players) have disappointed.
The lack of help in free agency meant any improvement would need to come internally, through coaching and the growth of current players.
But that hasn’t happened, and Lalonde is now paying the price.
Required reading
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
