Gallant to the Red Wings rumor dead?

In case you missed the news earlier yesterday, 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.

Check it out:

---

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.

Check it out:

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. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman though, doesn’t believe it’s as simple as many are making it out to be.

Check out this tidbit from Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts podcast for Sportsnet:

“Dallas wanted to hire him [Gallant], but didn’t. Seattle’s there. He’s got a looooong history with Steve Yzerman. Now, that’s a big job. If Steve Yzerman makes a change, that’s a big job. Like, I don’t know if Gerard Gallant is wired to do that job.”

---

I don’t know, Elliotte… I would never pretend to know how someone is “wired”. What we do know is that Gallant is one Hell of an NHL coach and the Red Wings could use a change behind the bench. Gallant and Yzerman just happen to be friends… let’s not overthink things here. It’s a match and I’m willing to bet it gets done sooner rather than later.