NHL Notebook: Red Wings name Todd McLellan head coach

Lalonde was named head coach in Detroit ahead of the 2022-23 season and the Wings posted a 35-37-10 record in his first year behind the bench. They improved to 41-32-9 in his second season in 2023-24 but have taken a step back this year.

The Wings are in the midst of a three-game losing streak and sit in seventh place in the Atlantic Division with a 13-17-4 record, eight points back of a playoff position in the Eastern Conference. The team has missed the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons, the second-longest active drought in the NHL behind only the Buffalo Sabres at 13 seasons.

Joining the Red Wings is a homecoming for McLellan, who got his start in the NHL with Detroit. After coaching in the SJHL, WHL, and AHL for over a decade, McLellan was named an assistant coach on Mike Babcock’s staff ahead of the 2005-06 season.

He spent three seasons in that role and left the team to become the head coach of the San Jose Sharks in 2008-09. The Sharks and McLellan parted ways after the 2014-15 season and he was named head coach of the Edmonton Oilers after they won the Connor McDavid draft lottery in 2015.

McLellan led the Oilers to their first playoff appearance in over a decade in 2016-17 but was fired during the 2018-19 season when the team fell back out of playoff contention. He joined the Los Angeles Kings in 2019-20 and was let go during the 2023-24 campaign.

The 57-year-old Saskatchewan native stands 24th in NHL history with 598 career wins. He won the Calder Cup in the AHL in 2002-03 with the Houston Aeros and won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2007-08.