Derek Lalonde shares true thoughts on Red Wings rebuild

The Detroit Red Wings are fresh off a 5-4 shootout victory over the high powered offensively gifted Edmonton Oilers late last night in chilly northern Canada, giving them their 7th triumph in their past 10 contests and moving them within four points of the final Wild Card postseason spot. 

While not many pundits had the Red Wings penciled in for a playoff spot this year, their recent winning ways has them within striking distance of securing their 1st berth since 2016, and is understandably giving fans hope that it could become a reality. 

According to head coach Derek Lalonde, who was hired by the team on June 30 after dismissing Jeff Blashill, he's pleased with the progress made but also feels that they're "right on target". 

"When you're in the middle of it as a coach, you always want more. But in reality, when you get to look at us from afar, we're probably right on schedule if not a little ahead of schedule," Lalonde said on the latest episode of "The Chirp with Daren Millard" podcast.

"You beat Toronto at home (4-1 on Jan. 12), the next week you go to Vegas and you win on the road (3-2 on Jan. 19). You're 2-0 vs. Tampa [Bay]," Lalonde continued. "You flirt with it [the playoffs], it's probably just the parity of the League, but it's going to take some time. That's [general manager] Steve's [Yzerman] job to manage the big picture, to think about the long-term, but us coaches and players in the moment, like any competitive athlete, you want it now. I would say we're right on target."

While the Red Wings have experienced more than a few defensive breakdowns over the course of this campaign, Lalonde feels that they've become a more hardened opponent for other NHL teams to face. 

"We're a tougher team to play against," Lalonde said. "Things we've asked of our guys, managing their game much better, taking pride in keeping [the puck] out of our net, we're doing those things. It's just our margin of error is really thin.

"There are those levels of frustration at times, but as a group it's an emotional roller-coaster, the ups and downs, the typical season. You can knock this group on sporadic special teams, you can knock this group on sporadic structure at times, but it'd be really hard to knock this group on its compete level. That's the one thing we've talked about where we've been pretty consistent."