Canadiens Hire Derek Lalonde As Assistant Coach

Former Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde has landed on the Montreal Canadiens coaching staff as an assistant, reported by Eric Engels of Sportsnet.

Lalonde spent the past season in Toronto in a similar role. He wasn’t out of a gig for long, as the Maple Leafs announced just yesterday that he wouldn’t be returning, with the news of Daniel Alfredsson coming aboard. Speaking of elite players of the 2000s, the 53-year-old Lalonde moves on to Martin St. Louis‘ staff at an exciting time, fresh off the club’s unlikely run to the Eastern Conference Finals. According to Engels, he is directly replacing Trevor Letowski in Montreal, who has stepped away from the demands of coaching to spend more time with family, while the organization hopes to retain him in a smaller capacity after five years behind the bench.

A native of Brasher Falls, New York, Lalonde earned his stripes starting out at an assistant at the NCAA Division III level in 1995, moving up to serve on the staffs of Division I Ferris State as well as the University of Denver. A former goaltender at the collegiate level with SUNY-Cortland (NCAA DIII), his first head coaching job came with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye in 2014, immediately taking home Coach of the Year honors in his first campaign. After a two-year stint with the Iowa Wild (AHL) from 2016-18, he was brought on to Jon Cooper‘s staff starting in 2018. Lalonde did excellent work there, winning two Stanley Cups with his defensive units and stout penalty kill making a big impact.

Pulled along to the Motor City from Tampa Bay by Steve Yzerman in 2022 as the 28th head coach in franchise history, he was fired midway through his third season in Detroit after an 89-86-23 record, not able to qualify for the playoffs. A defensive-minded coach, the Wings struggled to put the puck in the net, ranking 26th in the league across his tenure, and their defending efforts weren’t much better, allowing 3.33 goals per game, 27th. Detroit hasn’t exactly made huge strides since his departure, while Lalonde is perhaps best suited in a role where he can fully lean into his past duties in Tampa. He helped the Maple Leafs to an 81.2% penalty kill success rate, ranking 8th, despite the team’s overall struggles, surrendering the second highest goals in the entire league (299) only better than the league’s worst Canucks. It was reported in late May that Lalonde got an interview for the Leafs’ head coaching job, although they ended up deciding on Jim Hiller, leaving Lalonde to move on despite solid work in Toronto.

Hoping to bring that same success to Montreal, the Canadiens have room to improve on the PK as their 78.2% rate this past season was 18th in the NHL. A team offering a pair of strong defensive centers in Phillip Danault and Jake Evans, it has the makings of a nice fit. Depending on how Lalonde’s results as an assistant continue to go, perhaps one day the Stanley Cup winner will get another head coaching opportunity.