Red Wings fire Lalonde, hire McLellan
The Detroit Red Wings dismissed head coach Derek Lalonde and tabbed Todd McLellan to replace him, the club announced Thursday.
Detroit signed McLellan to a multi-year contract and brought in Trent Yawney as an assistant coach while firing associate coach Bob Boughner.
Lalonde was in his third season behind the Red Wings' bench. Detroit is 13-17-4 in 2024-25, which puts the club second-last in the Atlantic Division.
The Red Wings went 89-86-23 under Lalonde, who got the job after they fired Jeff Blashill in June 2022. Lalonde served as an assistant on Jon Cooper's staff with the Tampa Bay Lightning for four seasons, including when they won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021.
McLellan is getting his fourth opportunity as an NHL head coach. He guided the Los Angeles Kings for parts of five seasons until they fired him in February. He coached the San Jose Sharks for seven campaigns and the Edmonton Oilers for three-plus seasons before joining the Kings.
The 57-year-old's teams made nine playoff appearances in 16 years. Five of those resulted in first-round losses, and he only advanced past the second round twice (the Sharks' conference final runs in 2009-10 and 2010-11).
McLellan was a Red Wings assistant coach from 2005 until taking the Sharks job in 2008. Current Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman was the team's captain in McLellan's first campaign in the Motor City.
Detroit hasn't made the postseason since 2015-16. The Wings narrowly missed out in 2023-24, tying the Washington Capitals in points for the final spot in the Eastern Conference but losing on a tiebreaker.