Former Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde has officially landed a new job in the NHL, and it’s once again with a team in the Atlantic Division.
He’s been hired as an assistant coach by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had an open position on head coach Craig Berube’s staff after the departure of Lane Lambert to the Seattle Kraken.
Lalonde, who was named head coach of the Red Wings in June 2022, was let go by the team this past December after Detroit started the 2024-25 NHL season with a pedestrian 13-17-4 record. General manager Steve Yzerman felt that a change in direction was needed, dismissing Lalonde and assistant coach Bob Bougher and hiring Todd McLellan as his replacement.
Before his arrival in Detroit, Lalonde had been an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning under head coach Jon Cooper and helped them win the Stanley Cup in consecutive seasons. He first joined the Lightning during Steve Yzerman’s tenure as general manager in Tampa Bay, a role Yzerman now holds with the Red Wings
His coaching career goes back even farther, as he coached the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild from 2016-18 while also coaching two seasons for the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, where he earned the John Brophy Award as the ECHL’s Coach of the Year.
Additionally, Lalonde has coached at the University of Denver, Ferris State University, Hamilton College, and Lebanon Valley College.
Lalonde recently divulged his thoughts about being fired by the Red Wings while appearing as a guest on “The Cam & Strick Podcast,” hosted by St. Louis Blues reporter Andy Strickland and former NHL forward Cam Janssen. During the interview, Lalonde expressed gratitude to Yzerman for allowing him to be an NHL head coach and also discussed where he thought things ultimately went wrong in Detroit.
“He (Yzerman) is an intense, hard-nosed person, and I’m grateful I got three years with him because he made me a ton better,” Lalonde said on the podcast. “It wasn’t the most pleasant and comfortable at times, but he made me better, and that’s all you can ask, really.”
“We weren’t playing well and we had one of those moments in Philly,” he continued. “I left Philly and said, ‘This does not feel comfortable.’ And then what does the team do? We beat Toronto at home, our best game of the year, and we put up six on Philly, but then we lose three in a row. We just couldn’t get traction. It was just one of those things.”
During his time with the Red Wings, Lalonde put together a total record of 89-86-23.
