State of the Red Wings: Lalonde Has Added Pressure

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde has added pressure because third-year NHL coaches with no playoff berths always face more rigorous scrutiny.

That’s the nature of the job.

Plus, general manager Steve Yzerman has said everyone has to work harder to improve the team’s overall defensive coverage, and made it clear that included the coaching staff. Lalonde guided the Red Wings to an 11-point improvement. They fell one point short of the playoffs.

However, they were as sloppy defensively as they were in his first season with Detroit. The Red Wings gave up just two fewer goals. They ranked 25th in goals-against and 26th in surrendering shots on goals.

It doesn’t seem as if Lalonde will be judged solely on whether the Red Wings end their playoff drought. However, Yzerman made it clear he is looking for a higher level of proficiency in defensive work. Lalonde will be accountable for that objective.

This is exactly what Yzerman said: “It’s incumbent upon our coaching staff to instill or improve, continue to work on, whether it’s a different system or getting better in how we play and improving our players in the system.”

He wants to see the Red Wings play a stingier caliber of hockey. There was no “or else.” But when you are an NHL coach, “or else” is always implied. Eleven NHL coaches were fired this past season.

Others who know they will have to step up in 2024-25

Alex DeBrincat

More than one NHL 40-goal scorer has said the only problem with scoring that many goals is that everyone expects you to do that again and again. DeBrincat scored 27 for Ottawa in 2023-24 and 27 again for Detroit last season. That’s an impressive total for most NHL forwards. But in both seasons, the final reviews suggested he should have scored more.

That’s probably unfair, but expectations are high for DeBrincat because he has scored 41 goals twice in his career.

DeBrincat scored nine goals in his first seven games in Detroit and then 18 more in his last 73. He did seem unlucky last season, based on the number of times he clanged shots off the post. The Red Wings are expecting more production this season.

“His shooting percentage for his career was down a little bit last year… the great scoring chances that he had, hit the bar and went out,” Yzerman said. “We think that’ll contribute a little more. I think his expected goals will turn into goals next year and his numbers will go up.”

Simon Edvinsson

Edvinsson, 21, is right where he should be based on being drafted sixth overall in the NHL draft.  It takes time for prospects to be ready themselves to play defense in the NHL. The two defensemen drafted ahead of Edvinsson (Buffalo’s Owen Power and New Jersey’s Luke Hughes) are both regulars.

Edvinsson played like a regular at the end of the 2023-24 season. He also has 106 AHL games on his resume, plus some postseason action.

He certainly isn’t going to be flawless, but they need him to show he’s ready to be a strong contributor, preferably in Detroit’s top four.

“My hope would be that he’s a regular based on how he was used down the stretch,” Yzerman said. “Pretty important games for us, and he did reasonably well. My expectation is for him to do more. I think he can do more, but I think it’s reasonable to expect him to play a regular shift or that would be our hope. And to participate on the penalty killings group and potentially, depending on what we do on it and how everyone performs, maybe see some PP time. That was his role in Grand Rapids. But having said that, he’s not going to be handed anything. And Simon needs to know he’s gonna have to work for it and earn it every shift. He has the ability to do it, and it’s up to him to do it.”

Vladimir Tarasenko

The Red Wings lost some goals this summer. David Perron, Shayne Gostisbehere and Daniel Sprong are gone through free agency, and Robby Fabbri and Jake Walman were trade.

“We kind of tally up the goals in, the goals out,” Yzerman said. “Obviously, we’re counting on Tarasenko to add to that.”

It’s clear Tarasenko was brought in to help recoup some of that offense. If he can stay healthy, any number below 25 would be disappointing. The Red Wings need him to be all that he can be.

The Goalies

As a group, the Detroit goalies need to be more consistent this season. Every Detroit goalie has something to prove. Ville Husso is in the last season of his deal. He needs to show he can be an impact goalie again. Alex Lyon showed he can be a regular, but can he do it again? Can Cam Talbot win the job from both of them? And where is Jack Campbell at as a pro goalie?