Jeff Blashill has reportedly agreed to a new contract.

Red Wings take a gamble on their much maligned head coach.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Jeff Blashill has reportedly agreed to a new contract.
Keystone Press

This will likely be somewhat of a controversial decision in Detroit, although perhaps the recent performance from their beloved Detroit Red Wings will help smooth over some of the bumps in this announcement.

Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill is now in his fourth season as the head coach of that organization and I think it would be fair to suggest that his tenure thus far in Detroit has been marred by an extreme lack of success. In his four seasons as head coach of the Red Wings the team has only made it into the playoffs just one time and even that effort was a quick first round playoff exit. That is a staggering lack of success for an organization that, until that point, had prided itself on it's ability to not only make the postseason, but claim championships in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well.

For that reason Blashill has been heavily criticized by the Red Wings fan base even when it was clear that many of the deficiencies on the team were the results of decisions made by people above Blashill in the hierarchy of the Red wings' organization. So much so in fact that there have been numerous calls for Blashill to be fired, although admittedly those calls have started to quiet down as the Red Wings fan base has started to see the growing potential among some of their young players. Well now it seems that the Red Wings have seen it as well, and they want to see more of it in fact.

According to a report from Detroit Red Wings' insider Helen St. James of The Detroit Free Press it now appears that the Red Wings will announce a contract extension for Blashill early next week. Although the announcement has not been made official as of yet St. James is reporting that the two sides have agreed to a deal and that the only thing left to do is make it official.

From St. James:

The deal is for two years, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The length signals to Blashill the organization wants to see the Wings make the playoffs during that span. An announcement is likely to come Tuesday, when the Wings host Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena. 

As St. James notes here there is little doubt that this two year term sends a clear message, one that I think even the most disgruntled Red Wings fans will be able to appreciate. There will be more Blashill, but he will be reigned in on a short leash with the expectation that he returns the Red Wings to their winning ways within the next two NHL seasons.

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