Former Red Wings Coach Hired by Maple Leafs

Former Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde got a job Friday, but it wasn’t the job everyone figured he’d be getting. The Toronto Maple Leafs are hiring Lalonde as an assistant coach to work under head coach Craig Berube.

When Jeff Blashill, Lalonde’s predecessor as coach of the Red Wings, was leaving the staff of the Tampa Bay Lightning to take over as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks last month, the sense around the hockey would was that Lalonde would be returning to Tampa Bay. Blashill had filled Lalonde’s role on the Lightning staff under Jon Cooper when Lalonde was replacing him in Detroit.

Welcome to the family 🔵⚪️

We’ve hired Derek Lalonde as an assistant coach. https://t.co/aAs2dAKZzp pic.twitter.com/uRBxuOeMgE

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) June 6, 2025

Instead, earlier Friday, the Lightning were appointing longtime NHL assistant coach and former NHL forward Dan Hinote to replace Blashill on Cooper’s staff.

That seemed to be leaving Lalonde out in the cold, until a few hours later when the Leafs were making their announcement.

Red Wings Opportunity Didn’t Work Out For Lalonde

The Red Wings were the first team to give Lalonde a chance to run an NHL team. He’d orginally been given his first NHL opportunity by current Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman when Yzerman was GM in Tampa Bay. He was the one hiring Lalonde to be a Lightning assistant coach.

Lalonde would win two Stanley Cup rings as part of Cooper’s staff in Tampa Bay. However, that success didn’t follow him to Hockeytown. As Detroit coach, Lalonde went 89-86-23 (.508). He was given his walking papers on Dec. 26 as Detroit was floundering in second-last in the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings were 13-17-4. Detroit’s minus-23 goal differential was the worst in the conference.

The final straw was a 4-0 home-ice loss to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 23. That was Detroit’s third successive setback. The Wings were outscored 9-1 in Lalonde’s final two games in charge.

Derek Lalonde joins the Leafs as their new assistant coach pic.twitter.com/E8Pq8Ofchj

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) June 6, 2025

“Obviously, our last probably two-and-a-half games, we’re definitely searching,” Lalonde said at the time. “A little fragile.”

Lalonde came to Detroit with a winning resume. He would lead the Green Bay Gamblers to a USHL Clark Cup title in 2011-12. Lalonde won the John Brophy Award as ECHL coach of the year with the Toledo Walleye in 2014-15. The Walleye also won the Brabham Cup as the ECHL’s regular-season champion that season.

Lalonde is replacing former Red Wings player Lane Lambert on the Toronto staff. Lambert left the Leafs to take over as head coach of the Seattle Kraken.