The search isn't over, but it looks like Steve Yzerman is zeroing in on the next Red Wings head coach: Lightning assistant Derek Lalonde.
Lalonde, who overlapped with Yzerman for one season in Tampa Bay, was in Detroit this week to meet with the Wings about their coaching vacancy, per Kevin Weekes.
The 49-year-old Lalonde was hired by Lightning head coach Jon Cooper in 2018 after excelling as a head coach in the AHL and has helped Tampa win two Stanley Cups and reach the Finals three years in a row.
He also has experience in the Red Wings organization; he was head coach of the Toledo Walleye, Detroit's ECHL affiliate, from 2014-16. The Walleye were 50 games over .500 during Lalonde's two seasons in charge, the first of which saw Lalonde win ECHL Coach of the Year.
Should Lalonde land in Detroit, he would likely bring fellow Lightning assistant Jeff Halpern with him. Halpern, a former longtime NHL forward who was hired by Cooper alongside Lalonde in 2018, has overseen one of the best power plays in the NHL the past four seasons.
In a twist, that could open the door for former Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill to land in Tampa Bay, per Weekes. Blashill and Cooper have a long-standing relationship dating back to their days coaching amateur teams in the state of Michigan.
While Barry Trotz was the biggest name on the head coaching market and a potential fit with the Wings after he was let go by the Islanders, he has decided to take a year off from coaching after turning down the Winnipeg Jets job last week.
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