The Detroit Red Wings on Thursday fired head coach Derek Lalonde following a 13-17-4 start to the season, including a stretch of nine losses in their past 12 games.
Lalonde, hired to take over following the long and difficult tenure of Jeff Blashill, finished with a record of 89-86-23 in two-plus seasons. The Red Wings rank 28th in the NHL by points percentage coming out of the holiday break and are seventh in the Atlantic Division, so the move isn’t surprising.
Former Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan is replacing Lalonde.
McLellan, who rose up the coaching ranks as an assistant in Detroit in the 2000s, is known for the defensive acumen. In 16 seasons as a coach, he has three 50-win finishes, five 100-point seasons and nine trips to the playoffs.
But McLellan has not won a playoff series as a head coach since 2016-17 with Edmonton. He also drew some criticism for player development issues in Los Angeles, though he did effectively shepherd the Kings out of a rebuild and back into the playoffs for two consecutive seasons.
Detroit, one of the NHL’s Original Six teams, has not made the playoffs since 2015-16 and is potentially staring down a ninth consecutive season without making the postseason. That would be the longest playoff drought for an Original Six team in league history.
Lalonde’s tenure included a near miss last season. Detroit, mathematically alive for a playoff spot on the final day of the season, ultimately missed the playoffs in a tiebreaker with the Washington Capitals.
Results were often mixed during Lalonde’s tenure. Former No. 4 overall pick Lucas Raymond made big strides as a top-six winger in Detroit. The team was also getting big minutes and offensive upside from 21-year-old rookie defenseman Simon Edvinsson before he suffered an injury earlier in December.
However, there has been a drop-off among veteran players such as winger Patrick Kane. The future Hall of Famer has struggled (14 points in 29 games) and graded out poorly by Natural Stat Trick’s expected goals model at 40.15 percent.
The Red Wings struggled in numerous areas this season, particularly scoring at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. They are 31st in the NHL in goals for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.94), last in shots for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (23.55) and last in Natural Stat Trick’s expected goals for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (2.07).
Meanwhile, on the penalty kill they are 31st in efficiency (68.8) and 31st in goals against per 60 minutes (11.85). Only the New York Islanders penalty kill has been worse in those metrics.
Detroit will resume play following the holiday break Friday at home against Toronto.
