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 replaced 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 season, then jumped to 91 points in the 2023-24 season – narrowly missing out on the final playoff spot.

Red Wings release Lalonde and Bob Boughner, replace Todd McLellan https://t.co/gbbxwvUJPl

— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) December 26, 2024

But the Red Wings have taken a significant step backwards this season and sit 28th in the league standings as of Thursday morning. The team has struggled to find any sort of identity for most of the season and has regressed, particularly on offense. It currently sits in the bottom five of the league in goals per game (2.56) – and that’s with a power play that ranks 11th. The Red Wings’ expected goal yield at five-on-five was among the worst in the league. And their penalty shootout is currently considered one of the worst in league history. On Thursday, the team also fired assistant coach Bob Boughner, who took the penalty kill.

Ultimately, it’s the Red Wings’ overall play that got them into this position. Detroit had lost three straight heading into Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs. General manager Steve Yzerman clearly wasn’t willing to wait any longer for a turnaround.

Why the Red Wings made the change now

As the team’s head coach, Lalonde bears some of the responsibility for Detroit’s problems this season. But in many ways, with so many games left in the season, he’s simply the easiest switch.

Any path to the postseason looks narrow now, but in a weakened Atlantic Division, the Red Wings technically still have time to at least be more competitive than they have been.

Still, any discussion of the Red Wings’ regression this season must begin with the team’s roster assembled by Yzerman.

Detroit lost several powerful forwards this offseason as well as two key defenders: Jake Walman and power-play quarterback Shayne Gostisbehere. That weakened the Red Wings’ scoring ability and only reinforced the need to improve their team defense, but few meaningful roster improvements were made to accomplish that – although young defenseman Simon Edvinsson was excellent at filling a top-pair role .

New goalkeeper Cam Talbot has been a success story in goal, but striker Vladimir Tarasenko and defender Erik Gustafsson (both new signings to replace lost players) have disappointed.

The lack of help in free agency meant that any improvement would have to come internally through coaching and further development of current players.

But that didn’t happen, and Lalonde is now paying the price.

What to expect from McLellan

Fans will know McLellan from his time as an assistant coach with the Red Wings from 2005 to 2008, when he was part of Detroit’s last Stanley Cup team. Since then, he has gained extensive head coaching experience with over 1,100 NHL games between San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles. His last stint was a four-plus season with the Kings in which he reached the playoffs twice, losing in the first round to the Oilers both times. McLellan’s Kings teams were strong defensive teams, which fits with the Red Wings’ focus this season.

Required reading

(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)