Free washer | Hiring Todd McLellan: Steve Yzerman hoped for better

With a defeat on Thursday night against the Canadian, the Red Wings would find themselves seven points behind Montreal and the last place giving access to the playoffs, with Boston, Ottawa, New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh ahead.

Detroit, however, regained hope at the end of December after the dismissal of head coach Derek Lalonde, replaced by Todd McLellan. The Wings even won seven games in a row between December 29 and January 12. But they have lost four of their last five games and allowed 17 goals in those four losses.

The rare romantic cases encourage general managers to make coaching changes every winter when the team is not doing well. In most cases, these managers misjudged their own work. However, change has the effect of a sword in the water.

Kris Knoblauch’s arrival in Edmonton in November 2023 is worthy of a Hollywood film. The Oilers were 3-9-1 under Jay Woodcroft and languishing in the abyss of the overall standings. They went 43-18-6 with Knoblauch and reached the Stanley Cup final, losing in the seventh and final game.

Such cases are rare. It happened with Craig Berube in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues and Mike Sullivan with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015. In both cases, the Blues and Penguins won the Stanley Cup that season. But for every Knoblauch, Berube or Sullivan, there are five or six powerless coaches.

Besides Woodcroft last year, there were six coaching changes in 2023-2024: Lindy Ruff, fired in New Jersey in early March in favor of Travis Green; Dean Evason, replaced by John Hynes in Minnesota; Craig Berube, fired in favor of Drew Bannister; DJ Smith, replaced in Ottawa by Jacques Martin; Lane Lambert, chased by the Islanders to welcome Patrick Roy and finally Todd McLellan, dismissed by the Los Angeles Kings in favor of Jim Hiller.

Of those six organizations, only two made the playoffs. The Islanders were just two points out of a playoff spot when Roy arrived and the Kings were in the picture when McLellan left. The Islanders and Kings both lost in the first round.

We are seeing the same trend this year. None of the four clubs that fired their coach would participate in the playoffs if they started today.

The Boston Bruins were 8-9-3 when Jim Montgomery was surprisingly fired. Joe Sacco’s record is better at 15-11-3, but the Bruins, after winning 7 of their last 9 games after Sacco’s arrival, have won only 3 of their last 11 meetings.

Montgomery was quickly recycled by the Blues, whose record stood at 9-12-1 when he took office. St. Louis won 4 in 5 games, but got 9 in its next 19 meetings. The Blues are one point from the last place giving access to the playoffs, but they have three fewer games to play than the Calgary Flames and they must also get ahead of the Vancouver Canucks.

They are better with Montgomery, it must be admitted, but he was able to count on the return of number one center Robert Thomas. The Blues star had been absent for a month when Bannister was fired.

Finally, in Chicago, the arrival of Anders Sorensen did not produce the results hoped for by general manager Kyle Davidson. The Blackhawks were 8-16-2 under Luke Richardson. Chicago won 4 of its first 7 games under Sorensen, but only 3 of the next 14.

In a context of reconstruction as is the case in Chicago, the change of coach was obviously not only linked to the performance of the team, but to the development of the young people.

The club’s crown jewel, Connor Bedard, had 19 points in 26 games under Richardson. He amassed 22 in 21 meetings with Sorensen. But Bedard still produced in his first year with Richardson, with 61 points in 68 games.

The Blackhawks’ 2022 first-round pick Frank Nazar, obtained with the Canadiens’ pick for Kirby Dach, was called up from the American League in early December. He now plays on Bedard’s wing rather than center. His usage time increased in January and he has four points in his last eight games, for a yield of five points, including one goal, in 18 games.

It remains difficult for another first round pick in 2020, at 17^e Rank: Lukas Reichel, 22, has 13 points, including 4 goals, in 40 games on a third line. Kirby’s brother Colton, drafted in the second round in 2021, has three assists in nine games to Reichel’s left. He plays barely 11 minutes per game. The organization’s other top prospects, Artyom Levshunov and Kevin Korchinski, are in the American League or, in the case of Sacha Boisvert, Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel, in the NCAA.

Quote of the day

It’s huge to be able to do it in front of friends and family who came for the occasion. I heard them. I was lucky, they had nice seats [dans l’amphithéâtre]so I was able to meet their eyes during the match.

Adam Fantilli

Originally from Nobleton, Ontario, an hour from Toronto, young Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli, third overall pick in the NHL in 2023, purchased more than 70 tickets for his loved ones Wednesday evening for the visit of the Jackets in the Ontario capital. Fantilli scored a hat trick for the occasion. He now has 26 points, including 14 goals, in 48 games, and helped his club secure a valuable victory in the race for a playoff spot.