It appears the NHL’s annual holiday roster freeze doesn’t extend to the coaching ranks.

On Thursday morning, the Detroit Red Wings announced that they have parted ways with head coach Derek Lalonde and assistant coach Bob Boughner.

They will be replaced by new head coach Todd McLellan and assistant coach Trent Yawney.

Lalonde, 52, was a first-time NHL head coach and was in his third season with Detroit. He goes with a record of 89-86-23 for 201 points and a .508 points percentage over 198 games.

And while the Red Wings failed to break their seven-year playoff drought last season due to a tiebreaker, they have taken a step backwards this year. After losing its last three games before the Christmas break, Detroit fell to second-to-last in the Eastern Conference with a record of 13-17-4 and 30 points in 34 games. Averaging just 2.56 goals per game, the fourth fewest in the league, the team’s goal difference of minus-23 is the worst in the Eastern Conference.

With McLellan, Detroit is bringing in an experienced coach with many years of experience and existing connections to the organization. Before taking his first NHL head coaching job with the San Jose Sharks in 2009, the 57-year-old from Melville, Saskatchewan served as an assistant to Mike Babcock at Hockeytown for three seasons, including the season in which he won the 2007 Stanley Cup /08 won.

In addition to San Jose, McLellan was also the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings. All told, he has a record of 598-412-134 for 1,330 points and a .581 points percentage over 1,144 games. He has been unemployed for almost a year and was released by the Kings on February 2, 2024.

After a 25-year streak of playoff appearances from 1991 to 2016, including Stanley Cup victories in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008, the Red Wings have now gone eight seasons without a postseason appearance be – only the Buffalo Sabers are in second place (13 seasons). They have yet to play a single playoff game at Little Caesars Arena, which opened in fall 2017. The coaching change could also increase pressure on franchise legend Steve Yzerman, the former captain, three-time Cup champion as a player and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, now in his sixth season as the club’s executive vice president and general manager. but has not yet been able to show any success after the season.

Lalonde’s firing is the fourth of the NHL season. He succeeds two coaches who were hired just days after him in June 2022: Jim Montgomery was fired by the Boston Bruins on November 19th and Luke Richardson was fired by the Chicago Blackhawks on December 5th.

The St. Louis Blues also parted ways with Drew Bannister after less than a year when they hired Montgomery on November 24th.

With the Red Wings currently eight points out of a wild-card spot in the East, McLellan has his work cut out for him if the team hopes to end its playoff drought this year. His first task could be to get more out of two experienced goal scorers.

After his successful return from hip surgery last year in which he scored 20 goals and 47 points in 50 games, Patrick Kane has only scored five goals and 14 points in 29 games this year. And former 40-goal scorer Vladimir Tarasenko, who signed a two-year free agent contract for $4.75 million per season after winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last spring, was also a disappointment. The 33-year-old is on his fifth team in less than two years and has only scored four goals and 12 points in 33 games.

One bright spot in Detroit was veteran Cam Talbot’s play at the net. The 37-year-old signed a two-year deal worth $2.5 million per season, has a save percentage of .912 and ranks in the top 10 in the league with 9.0 goals saved above expectations. Talbot’s resurgence began last season when he thrived under McLellan’s defense-first system and represented the Kings at the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend.

The Red Wings will help kick off an eight-game slate when NHL play returns on Friday, hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m. ET at Little Caesars Arena.