Red Wings McLellan The Christmas Gift That Keeps on Giving

Among all the gifts that Detroit Red Wings fans were receiving on Christmas Day, the best one of all wasn’t found under the holiday tree.

Todd McLellan is the gift that keeps on giving. Those gifts encompass perseverence, belief hope . . . and as of today, a place in the NHL playoffs.

Following Detroit’s sixth win in a row, a 3-2 overtime verdict over the Vancouver Canucks, the Red Wings now occupy the first wild card postseason spot in the Eastern Conference.

“Tip our hat to all the players for crawling back into this thing, but all we’ve done is get back to the start line,” McLellan was saying after Sunday’s win.

Fair enough. That’s one of McLellan’s strengths, after all. Yes, he wants his team to keep their eyes on the prize. At the same time, he knows the best chance of completing that arduous journey is by embracing the challenge of every step along the way.

“I’m not changing how I approach it,” McLellan said. “A game at a time, a practice at a time. Find ways to get better.”

The @DetroitRedWings under Todd McLellan:

-14-4-1 record
-Have gone on TWO six-game winning streaks
-Are now in the first Wild Card spot in the East pic.twitter.com/3FpoOOyTuq

— NHL (@NHL) February 3, 2025

While we’re talking about doffing chapeaus of recognition, save some of those kudos for the new coach. Can a midseason replacement with the Jack Adams Trohpy as NHL coach of the year? McLellan is certainly doing his utmost to state his case.

It was Christmas Day when McLellan got the job offer from Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman. When he was arriving in town, the Red Wings were eight points out of the playoffs. Following a 14-4-1 run under their new coach, they’ve already completely erased that deficit.

Red Wings Do Complete 180

How has McLellan turned this team around? Let’s count the ways.

Expounding on some fine research first compiled by Ansar Khan of Mlive.com, the difference in Detroit under McLellan in comparison to predecessor Derek Lalonde is truly night and day.

Detroit went 13-17-4 under Lalonde. At the time of his dismissal, the Red Wings were deadlocked for 27th overall in the NHL. They were 29th in scoring (2.59 goals per game) and showed a 3.26 goals-against average. The power play was clicking at 22.4%, while the penalty kill was a dismal 68.8%. Most alarming of all, the Wings were displaying a shot disparity of -170. That was the worst in the NHL.

Since McLellan arrived, Detroit has the NHL’s No. 1 record. The Wings are scoring 3.37 goals per game, third for third in the NHL. The GAA is 2.63. Meanwhile, the power play is potting goals at an astonishing 35.1% rate. The PK is still not great, but getting better at 71.1%. And the shot differential is +14.

This is going on the season montage. #RedWings #lgrw pic.twitter.com/RTcffOSb5r

— 🪩🎉New Year Same Mario🎉🪩 |#BLM (@NotLuigi89) February 2, 2025

The level of commitment McLellan is getting from his team is evident in the sacrifice they’re willing to make in order to win. During Detroit’s current six-game win streak, the Red Wings are averaging 19 shot blocks per game. By comparison, the Philadelphia Flyers are the NHL leaders in shot blocks per 60 minutes. Philly is blocking 17.91 shots per game.

There’s a long way to go. However, as the Red Wings take a much-earned off day today, acknowledgement of how far they’ve come in such a short span is warranted.

“There’s a lot of hockey left in front of us,” McLellan said. “We’re confident that they can continue to get it done.”