Gallant linked to Red Wings less than 24 hours after being fired in Vegas

In case you missed the news earlier today, the Vegas Golden Knights announced, somewhat out of the blue, that they’ve fired head coach Gerard Gallant and assistant coach Mike Kelly. 

Taking Gallant’s place behind the Vegas bench will be former San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer. Seriously? The former coach of the team’s biggest rival? Seriously.

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Suffice it to say, this news sent shockwaves through the entire NHL. 

Not only is Gallant one of the most respected and well-liked coaches in the entire NHL, the Golden Knights are just three points back of the Pacific Division lead. There’s no denying the fact that the team can be better, but… this isn’t a team in peril like other teams who have made coaching changes this season. DeBoer’s firing in San Jose made perfect sense. Ditto for Peter Laviolette with the Nashville Predators and Mike Babcock with the Toronto Maple Leafs. But… Gallant? Odd.

In any case, Gallant is out and DeBoer is in for the Golden Knights. But what’s next for Gallant? He’s likely to be a hot commodity on the open market with several teams needing a coach for next season. The Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames and the aforementioned Sharks are all utilizing interim coaches to get through the 2019-20 season, but does Gallant’s availability change things? 

One team to keep an eye on is the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings are AWFUL this season and pressure is mounting on GM Steve Yzerman to finally, mercifully put head coach Jeff Blashill out to pasture. Oh… and it just so happens that Steve Y and Gallant are old friends from their playing days. Could there be a match?

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press addressed the possibility in her latest column, but cautioned Red Wings fans not to get too excited over a potential Gallant hiring… at least until the offseason.

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As recently as last weekend, in an interview with Wings’ play-by-play announcer Ken Kal, Yzerman defended the job done by Blashill, saying “regardless of injuries, our record and our team’s performance is somewhat unfair to pin that on the coaching staff at this point. The injuries make it really difficult to really know what you truly have.”

It has been expected that Blashill will finish out this season, then possibly be offered another job within the organization.

In addition to Gallant, Yzerman also could look at another former teammate in Lane Lambert, currently an associate coach with the New York Islanders. Lambert was a fellow Wings draft pick of Yzerman in 1983, and as rookies shared an apartment on Detroit’s riverfront.

Interesting connections. 

My take: where there’s smoke, there’s fire. It’s simply too good a match. But, given everything we know about how Yzerman operates, don’t expect any news on a potential Gallant hiring until Steve Y himself makes the official announcement. Yzerman runs a tight ship and it makes sense for Gallant to be the captain of that ship. Stay tuned, Wings fans.