Detroit Red Wings fire HC Derek Lalonde to sign Todd McLellan to a multi-year contract

The Detroit Red Wings are changing head coaches. Derek Lalonde has been fired and his successor, Todd McLellan, has been given an immediate extension.

GM Steve Yzerman announced on Thursday that McLellan would be the 29th head coach in the franchise's long history. Trent Yawney has joined as an assistant coach on his staff.

Lalonde and assistant coach Bob Boughner were immediately relieved of their duties. The team did not say the duration of McLellan's multi-year contract in their initial announcement.

The Detroit Red Wings have 30 points on the season and are seventh in the Atlantic Division. This was Lalonde's third season as coach and he hadn't made the playoffs in either of his first two.

The team missed out due to a tiebreaker last year but could not build on that momentum and improve in 2024. Thus, the Red Wings decided to fire Lalonde and move on to McLellan. Lalonde has gone 89-86-23 in his NHL coaching career.

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Exploring Todd McLellan's track record heading into the Detroit Red Wings job

The Detroit Red Wings are choosing a supremely established coach, one of the most successful in NHL history, to succeed Derek Lalonde. After he fizzled out early in his third year, the Red Wings have named Todd McLellan their next coach.

He has 16 seasons of NHL head coaching experience. His record is a stout 598-412-134. He has also gone 42-46 in the postseason. McLellan spent time with the Los Angeles Kings (2019-24), Edmonton Oilers (2015-19), and San Jose Sharks (2008-15).

Todd McLellan is the new Detroit Red Wings HC (Credits: IMAGN)

The 598 regular-season wins he has amassed are the 24th-most in hockey history. Among active coaches, he has the sixth-most wins behind Paul Maurice (891), Lindy Ruff (876), Peter Laviolette (823), John Tortorella (757), and Peter DeBoer (632).

McLellan's teams have reached the 50-win threshold three times during his coaching career and have passed the 100-point plateau six times. The Red Wings decided that history should be on the side of their newest head coach, so McLellan immediately got the job and an extension.