The Detroit Red Wings will reportedly change their coaching staff going into the 2025 offseason, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period on social media. Head coach of the Red Wings, Todd McLellan, took over from Derek Lalonde on December 26th and nearly got the Red Wings into the Stanley Cup playoffs. This is something that is McLellan’s right as head coach. The Red Wings finished the 2024-25 season with a record of 26-18-4 under McLellan.
General manager Steve Yzerman confirmed this report during his end-of-the-season press conference, but did not confirm which coaches would be brought into McLellan’s coaching staff. Yzerman felt “very comfortable” not making a trade at the trade deadline. Yzerman said his opening comments had nothing to do with Dylan Larkin’s perceived unhappiness with the team not making a deal at the deadline. Yzerman said he understood that Larkin and Red Wings fans are not happy with the team’s performance.
McLellan was animated during this press conference. He felt that the team “pissed away points” towards the end of the season. While McLellan and Yzerman stopped short of blaming any one player for these performances, saying that the team needed “stabilizers” and “deflectors” instead of cheerleaders. “I’m counting on our leaders, our best players, to give us a morale boost. That’s what they’re paid for, and that’s what I expect from them.”
Trent Yawney was responsible for the Red Wings’ penalty kill under McLellan. Yawney, 59 years old, has been an assistant coach throughout his career, aside from being the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. The Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, native has also been an assistant coach at the AHL level. Prior to joining McLellan’s staff, Yawney was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings from 2019-2023.
“Wherever Red Wings’ assistant coach Trent Yawney goes, top young defensemen grow.” This was the headline of a story Max Bultman of The Athletic wrote after McLellan was hired. This headline has aged well as Edvinsson finished the 2024-25 season on the Red Wings’ top defensive pair with Moritz Seider. Edvinsson was drafted by the Red Wings with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. In 78 games played, Edvinsson scored seven goals and added 24 assists.
The Red Wings’ defensive corps has left a lot to be desired in recent years. This began to change with the drafting of Moritz Seider fourth overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. This move shocked the hockey world as he was not on any team’s radar. What followed was the Zelle, Germany native winning the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year. Seider was the first Red Wing to win the Calder Trophy since goalie Roger Crozier in 1965. However, Seider could not continue to shoulder the entire defensive load for the Red Wings.
According to Daily Faceoff, the Red Wings’ first penalty killing unit for the majority of the 2024-25 season was comprised of J.T. Compher and Tyler Motte at forward with Edvinsson and Seider on defense. The top defensive duo for the Red Wings has carried the bulk of the defensive load for the Red Wings. This is despite Edvinsson having just completed his first season in the NHL. Defenseman Albert Johansson also showed very well in his first stint in the NHL, scoring three goals and adding six assists in 61 games during the 2024-25 season.
Goalie coach Alex Westlund has also left the Red Wings organization. The Red Wings currently have seven goalies under contract, but they have yet to find the right one to be their “goalie of the future.” Sebastian Cossa was drafted by the Red Wings with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft with the thought that he would be the Red Wings’ goalie of the future, but he has yet to make it to the NHL with regularity. “We need the goalie to stop the puck more,” Yzerman said.
The Red Wings have missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the ninth season in a row. The task of new head coach Todd McLellan is to get the team back to this goal. For now, McLellan must get his staff in place. This is something that he did not have the opportunity to do after taking the head coach job in late December of last year. Steve Yzerman’s end-of-season press conference showed that he has faith in McLellan, but the Red Wings players need to step up next season.
ITR 35: Round One – Inside The Rink
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