Derek Lalonde has been accustomed to winning throughout his coaching career, especially the past four seasons in Tampa Bay, which included two Stanley Cup championships as an assistant under Jon Cooper.
He enters a much different situation as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, faced with the tough task of accelerating a rebuild that began more than five years ago and hit a rough patch the final two months of the 2021-22 season.
The Red Wings have missed the playoffs six years in a row and have ranked at or near the bottom of the NHL in offense, defense and special teams in recent seasons. They finished 26 points out of the final playoff spot in the rugged Eastern Conference.
Lalonde has a lot of work to do. Much of what he does will depend on the final roster general manager Steve Yzerman assembles following free agency and some likely trades, as well as decisions on which prospects will be promoted.
Here are some priorities for Lalonde:
1. Improve team defense
This is the biggest issue. A late-season collapse including multiple blowouts cost Jeff Blashill his job. Their 3.78 goals-against average ranked second from the bottom in the NHL and was their worst since 1989-90. It was due to a combination of poor defense and substandard goaltending.
Lalonde must instill a defensive mindset and implement a system where the team doesn’t allow as many scoring chances. Blashill tried, but it didn’t work. Personnel changes on the blue line will help, including adding 2021 No. 6 overall pick Simon Edvinsson. Alex Nedeljkovic must be more consistent after being outstanding some nights and pulled due to ineffectiveness on several occasions. They need a dependable backup in free agency or through trade.
2. Solve special teams
Amazingly, the Red Wings rank last in both the power play and the penalty kill cumulatively over the past seven seasons (excluding Seattle, which has played only one season), and it has cost them countless games. Lalonde needs an assistant who can infuse a shooting mentality and devise schemes to utilize their skill on the power play, whether that’s Alex Tanguay, who remains on staff, or someone else. The penalty kill often boils down to hard work, commitment and sacrifice -- which seemed to be lacking during the late-season swoon -- and of course, a team’s best penalty killer, its goaltender.
3. Make team harder to play against
From bad starts to late collapses, the Red Wings lacked fortitude and resilience during their season-ending 9-18-4 stretch that included losses by scores of 9-2, 11-2 and 7-2. Lalonde must restore some confidence players appeared to lose and get them to show more mental toughness when facing adversity.
4. Form a formidable second line
This depends in large part on what moves Yzerman makes. He will be seeking an upgrade at second-line center over Pius Suter, who would then be bumped to the third line. It will be Lalonde’s call whether to keep intact the top line of Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Lucas Raymond or spread the wealth over two lines.
5. Get more out of young players
Calder Trophy winner Moritz Seider and Raymond had outstanding rookie seasons and there is no reason to believe they won’t continue to flourish. Lalonde must get more out of 2018 first-round picks Filip Zadina and Joe Veleno. Their lack of production (Zadina had 10 goals and 24 points, Veleno eight goals and 15 points) wasn’t from lack of opportunity. Zadina played regularly on the power play and Veleno appeared in 66 games.
It is not realistic to expect the Red Wings to reach the playoffs next season. It might even be a stretch to think they can compete for a postseason spot late into the season. But finishing with a winning record, which Detroit hasn’t had since 2015-16, the last time it reached the playoffs, is a reasonable goal for Lalonde.
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