It should come as no surprise to anyone that these rumors suggest that Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman might consider a coaching change following this season if the team continues performing in April the way it had in December and, most recently, March.
It wasn't long ago that the Red Wings were flying high and enjoying life with an eight-point lead in the Eastern Conference's first wild card position. Since then, it's been nothing short of a disaster for the organization that continually fails to start on time and can't seem to get their defensive assignments sorted out night in and night out. Both of those issues come from a team with a plethora of veteran players on it, which is extremely difficult to stomach.
Also, Lalonde's willingness to continue to dress Jeff Petry shows his inability to see when a player hurts you more than helping you. The veteran defender entered March with a plus-4 rating on the season, and now he's currently a -11. Plus/minus isn't a stat that holds much merit in 2024, but I believe it can still be telling when you see such a giant swing (either way) over a short period.
Report suggests that the Detroit Red Wings are considering a coaching change.
Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey now is reporting two very interesting things. First, Yzerman is considering a coaching change if Detroit's lackluster play continues through the duration of the regular season and misses the postseason. Duff claims the source has said former Stanley Cup-winning coach Craig Berube is at the top of Detroit's short list of Lalonde replacements.
By now, we all know Yzerman's relationship with Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. If he needs any additional information or a different opinion, he can simply ask one of the slew of former Blues players currently on the Red Wings roster who played for Berube in the past (David Perron, Ville Husso, Robby Fabbri, or Jake Walman).
Duff went on to say, "Another NHL source was telling Hockey Now that on Friday, Yzerman read the riot act to his coaching staff and players regarding their lackluster performance of late. They followed that up by blowing a third-period lead in a 3-2 shootout loss at Florida."
This information comes as a bit of a surprise, knowing that Yzerman usually holds his cards close to the vest, and this type of information rarely emerges when it comes to the Detroit Red Wings since the transition from Ken Holland to Yzerman occurred. Berube led the Blues to the 2018-19 Stanley Cup title but elected to move on from him earlier this year. Berube will likely be one of the top available head coaches this summer, so if the Red Wings want to make a change, the sooner, the better. Other names to watch are Lane Lambert and Sergei Fedorov; both have obvious ties to Yzerman. Derek Lalonde is finishing year two of his three-year deal.