Who is in play for the Red Wings Coaching Vacancy?

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The Detroit Red Wings are watching closely as the playoffs power on with the off-season right around the corner. General manager, Steve Yzerman, is viewing his teams architecture and is undoubtedly hard at work.

Yzerman’s credentials lives in the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the Lightning only one round away from yet another Stanley cup apperance, Yzerman has the capability to create a championship caliber roster. Furthermore, his career as a player proves that he knows what it takes to be a champion.

While managing a team, it takes the ability to learn and understand that every team has its own makeup. With that being said, before the off-season craziness can happen, Yzerman will need to find someone to lead the Red Wings behind the bench.

Steve Yzerman’s current off-season plans are in motion. With the playoffs nearing, the Red Wings will be looking to take advantage of the coaching market.

In Yzerman’s forementioned Tampa Bay Lightning, the coach was not a name we had heard in the NHL before, John Cooper. Cooper had been on the ascend as a winning coach since he begin coaching high school hockey in Lansing, Michigan. If the Wings next coach follows the same trajectory, I hope there is an attorney in a Tallahassee, Florida that we can depend on- It is likely we will not see a mirror replication with the Detroit Red Wings.

The team has key players in the system currently as untradable assets: Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. Players currently on the roster that have may have been either acquired and/or developed under Yzerman’s careful watch: Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, Robby Fabbri, Jacob Vrana, and Michael Rasmuessen to name a few. We have yet seen or witnessed a larger body of work from Simon Edvinsson (4th overall 2021), Joe Veleno, Jonathan Berggren, Albert Johansson, goaltender Sebastian Cossa, and next year’s 8th overall pick.

The future of the Detroit Red Wings is bright, and the team has the depth in terms of prospects and potential. Any coach should be excited for this opportunity to work with Steve Yzerman and their current roster and prospect pool.

There have been several firings of high-quality coaches during the season and during that last couple of weeks; Yzerman has a difficult task in front of him. He has a mission to find the right coach for the job.

“We’ve been unable to, with the group that we’ve had, specifically in that area, to get better,” Yzerman said. “To get our team to play, both individually and collectively, as a sounder defensive hockey team. And it’s been three years we’ve been trying. “It hasn’t been a lack of discussion, a lack of effort on the coaching staff’s behalf, or trying. We just haven’t been able to do it. I look at this now as – that’s an area that’s going to need to improve. In order to do that, I’m going to bring in a new coach and see if he can’t do that with the group that we have.” -Detroitredwings.com

There is no easy button in this decision. The team needs structure to let their stars thrive offensively and be dependable in their own zone and in transition.

Let us look at some of candidates, in no particular order, the Red Wings could consider and why.

Barry Trotz

The Red Wings organization is familiar with Barry Trotz. Trotz coached former divisional doormat to one of the most defensively sound teams in the salary cap era NHL. You still see that culture embraced in the Nashville Predators today. He then guided the championship bitten Alexander Ovechkin to raising the Stanley Cup. The biggest critique of the high-octane Washington Capitals was that they could not defend, and the team could never win with Ovechkin and Trotz proved the critics wrong.

His last tour was on Long Island. After their captain left to play for his child fanhood team that included a guarantee of first round exits, they were left without a face to the public eye. Trotz gave the team a contender image, a team that is hard to play against and wins. Trotz brought back a feeling to the New York Islanders that had not been felt since the creation of the “’Playoff Beard”.

Pros: His defense first structure creates opportunity to maximize depth. He’s believer in using all four lines. Gets buy-in from all players.

Cons: High-end offensive players can, at times, struggle in the system. Limits creative offensive output due to mindset of what their responsibilities are defensively.

Best Season:
2015-16 Washington Capitals- Lost in round 2 of Stanley Cup Playoffs
2017-18 Washington Capitals- Won the Stanley Cup

Key Players Coached:
Nashville: David Legwand, Kimmo Timonen, Shea Weber, Roman Josi, Pekka Rinne
Washington: Alexander Ovechkin, Nikolas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, John Carlson, Evgeniy Kuznetsov
NYI: Mat Barzal, Brock Nelson, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Anders Lee

Awards: 2016 Jack Adams, 2019 Jack Adams

Dave Tippett

Dave Tippett is another familiar face to the Red Wings. Another coach capable of creating team defense. His career has kept him in the western conference with prior stops in Dallas, Phoenix/Arizona, and in Edmonton.

His tenure with Dallas and Phoenix caused real troubles for the highly talented Detroit Red Wings of the 2000s. His ability to be personable and adapt to his players is second to none. This is a coach that knows how to work with rookies and veterans. His ability to get the most out of players has been exceptional in his NHL coaching career; it might even be the best. He could be a good fit Detroit over his tenure with Edmonton.

While the joy and delight of coaching elite talents such as Conner McDavid and Leon Draisaitl; that has not been his style of team. He has the experience of coaching hall-of-famers, future hall-of-famers, and grizzled veterans of the game. You never know, if Mike Smith retires from the crease, a coaching career could begin with Tippett as the two have been almost inseparable during Smith’s NHL player career.

Pros: He brings a structure that allows players to feel comfortable in playing offense and defense. He postured around hardnosed leaders in the locker room and a dedicated culture of players working hard for each other. His ability to get the most out of goaltenders.

Cons: Never has consistently won in the playoffs.

Best Seasons:

2007-08 Dallas Stars- Lost in round 3
2011-12 Phoenix Coyotes- Lost in round 3
2020-21 Edmonton Oilers-Lost in round 1

Key Players Coached:
Dallas: Mike Modano, Brendan Morrow, Sergei Zubov, Bill Guerin
Coyotes: Shane Doan, Keith Yandle, Ryan Whitney, Oliver Eckman-Larson,
Edmonton: Conner McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse

Mike Smith (DAL, ARZ, EDM)

Awards: 2010 Jack Adams

Pete DeBoer

Remember when Pete De Boer was just in the Red Wings backyard with the now de facto Plymouth whalers? This could be a long time coming for De Boer to return to the mitten. De Boer has been an exceptional coach during his NHL tenure doing great things the most memorably with the San Jose Sharks. It has been odd to not see coach De Boer in the playoffs this year after six consecutive trips to the post-season. Vegas is lending a great coach to the market by treating him as a scapegoat from “interesting” management and ownership decisions.

Pros: De Boer can get the most out of young players. His defense will be teaching puck possession with the strong emphasis on attacking the net.

Cons: Goalie situations in Vegas, getting over the hump.

Best Seasons:

2011-12 New Jersey Devils- Lost in Finals
2015-16 San Jose Sharks- Lost in Finals
2020-21 Vegas Golden Knights- Lost in round 3

Key Players Coached:
FLA: Weiss, Booth, Bouwmeester, Vokoun
NJD: Brodeur, Elias, Parise, Kovalchuk, Jagr
SJS: Thornton, Marleau, Pavelski, Burns, Couture, Hertl
VGK: Pietrangelo, Theodore, Stone, Fleury, Eichel

Mike Babcock

Could the Red Wings and Mike Babcock have a reunion? This is a very interesting candidate for the role. Steve Yzerman did play under Babcock in one of his final seasons in Detroit. I think both parties are in lockstep with a no-nonsense attitude and expect greatness out of everyone. The Detroit Red Wings’ Hockeytown culture has dissipated in the last few seasons. Babcock knows Detroit and knows what is expected night in and night out.

He is also needing to get back into the coaching circuit. Coming back to Detroit would give him a perfect opportunity to prove he still knows how to coach and this level. Mike Babcock will not be the same coach that we heard and saw in Toronto. This version of Babcock would be similar to when he came to Detroit looking to prove he was capable of coaching in the NHL. A dark horse candidate that should be considered.

Pros: he knows what is expected, motivated to prove he is still capable of coaching, is a proven winner

Cons: his demanding nature has created difficult locker room atmospheres; has shown he may not be in touch with today’s player

Best Seasons:

2002-03 Anaheim Mighty Ducks- Lost in Finals
2007-08 Detroit Red Wings- Won Championship
2008-09 Detroit Red Wings- Lost in Finals
2017-18 Toronto Maple Leaf’s- Lost in round 1

Key Players Coached:

ANH: Paul Kariya, Petr Sykora, Adam Oates, Sergei Fedorov, Sandis Ozolinsh, JS Giguere
DET: Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Kronwall, Chris Osgood, Dominik Hasek
TOR: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, Morgan Reilly, Fredrick Anderson

Final Considerations

Would Yzerman look at bringing in one of our favorite players from the Detroit Red Wings of the 90s and 2000s? Three candidates come to mind when we look at alumni that could come in to make an impact. This is considering watching Martin St. Louis start to turn the tables in a positive way in Montreal. His experience at the NHL level as a coach didn’t match the resumes of some of his counterparts but his success in the league and desire to prove others wrong catapulted him into having a great quarter of the season for Montreal. Alumni players to know: Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, and Kris Draper.

Other notable free agent coaches to consider would be John Tortorella or Paul Maurice. Both are excellent coaches that can supply structure and have shown the ability to win. Or a fresh head coaching candidate could be hired like Tampa Bay assistants Jeff Halpern and Derek Lalonde, or St. Louis assistant Jim Montgomery, or Luke Richardson of Montreal. All have proven to be successful in the league in their roles.

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Having a coach in place prior to the draft will be at the forefront of Steve Yzerman’s thoughts. He has proven that he can make the correct choice in hirings. His choice will be the right one.

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