Maple Leafs hire Derek Lalonde as an assistant coach

Lalonde, 52, was most recently head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, a role he served in for a little over two seasons before he was fired in December 2024 after the Red Wings started the season 13-17-4. He coached the Red Wings to a record of 89-86-23 over two and a half seasons. They never qualified for the playoffs in this time, but came within a game of doing so in 2023-24.

The news comes after the announcement that Lane Lambert, who served on the Maple Leafs’ bench as an assistant in 2024-25, had accepted a job as the head coach of the Seattle Kraken, making it the second time in three years a Leafs assistant has taken a head coaching job in Seattle. Dave Hakstol did it following the 2022-23 season, as well.

Lalonde most recently was working as an analyst on Sportsnet during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and there’s a little bit of irony in that stat as well, because it marks the second year in a row the Leafs have pulled a former head coach out of a broadcasting role to take a job on their bench. Current head coach Craig Berube was working for TnT in the 2023-24 playoffs an an analyst at the time the Leafs hired him.

Lalonde also has a bit of a championship pedigree to his name, having served as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2018-19 until 2021-22, where he won two Cups with the Lightning in that span. He’s also got experience at the international level, working as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2023 and 2024 IIHF World Championships.

This news comes after Elliotte Friedman speculated that former Boston Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco could be of interest to the Leafs to fill Lambert’s role. Sacco was hired by the New York Rangers as an assistant coach in days prior, taking him off of the list of potential Leafs targets.

It’s unclear what Lalonde’s specific role will be with the team at this time, but it’s safe to assume he’ll be looking after their penalty kill considering the void he was filling.