With the Red Wings in the midst of a substantial rebuild, GM Steve Yzerman reiterated Wednesday he plans to bring back Jeff Blashill for a sixth season behind the bench.
"I have no plans of making a coaching change at this time," Yzerman told local media in a season-ending video conference.
He said his thoughts "haven't changed from February," when he explained it's not fair to hold the team's record against the head coach. The two-year extension Blashill signed at the end of last season came with an option for 2020-21, and Yzerman indicated the Wings will pick that option up.
"As I said, I plan to have Jeff be the head coach of the team. And we'll do whatever's necessary to make sure he's the head coach of the team," said Yzerman.
Blashill replaced Mike Babcock after the 2014-15 season. Since then, the Red Wings have the most losses in the NHL. They were in danger of becoming the worst team in the salary cap era this season before play was halted due to the coronavirus.
But as Yzerman continues to point out, the bulk of Blashill's tenure has coincided with a long-overdue rebuild.
"I think Jeff has done a good job. It's been a difficult position in his tenure here," Yzerman said. "The Red Wings are in a rebuild for a while, and for the last two, three trade deadlines the team has traded valuable players, good players, for future assets. And Jeff, with his head held high, has worked hard and done a good job in coaching this team in a difficult situation.
"As I said in February, I think it's unfair to judge him based on our record at this time. Quite frankly, we need to improve the team for anybody to truly critique or assess the coaching staff."
To that end, Yzerman said he'll leave it up to Blashill whether the rest of the coaching staff remains intact.
"You'll get an opportunity to talk to Jeff about that. He and I will discuss the offseason, the plans for the offseason. Ultimately I may have some say in it, (but ) that would be his determination as to whether he wants to make any changes on his staff," Yzerman said.
