Former Detroit Red Wings Derek Lalonde lands surprising NHL coaching job
Photo credit: The Blade/Jetta Fraser
The Detroit Red Wings will find a familiar face behind the bench when they take on their original-six rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs (and GM Brad Treliving), who have hired Derek Lalonde as an assistant coach.
The Detroit Red Wings will have to contend with a familiar face on the Maple Leafs bench next season. The team and Brad Treliving made a surprising hire during the offseason.
That hire is Derek Lalonde, who, after his short tenure in Detroit as a head coach, once again finds himself as an assistant coach in the NHL.
Before Lalonde was ever a head coach in the NHL, he served under Jon Cooper and GM Steve Yzerman in Tampa beforehand.
He utilized his connections to land the head coaching vacancy after Jeff Blashill left in 2022.
Lalonde would find himself struggling to keep himself above water as the Wings' coach with a record of 198-89-86-23-201 Points-.508 percentage.
There were no playoff berths to be had for Lalonde during his three-year stint in Detroit. But now, there's more off his plate and he can focus on specialization of duties, which could end up being special teams, or defense, depending on where Craig Berube puts him on staff.
Despite his lackluster record in the NHL, Lalonde had a great run as an assistant coach in the IIHF World Championship, helping Team USA secure gold medals in 2024 and 2025.
Now, he can gain more experience in the NHL under another Stanley Cup winning coach and maybe set himself up for his coaching gig running a team of his own in the future?
| POLL | ||
JUIN 6 | 96 ANSWERS Former Detroit Red Wings Derek Lalonde lands surprising NHL coaching job Do you think Assistant Coach Derek Lalonde will be successful with the Toronto Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 46 | 47.9 % |
| No | 50 | 52.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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