They kind of held the fort for the first seven minutes there but played well from there on in. Not hearing the Yzerman hate these days? Just sayin!! 
- DraftandDestroy
If we count McLellan's first game as de facto Lalonde's last (since he hadn't yet had time to adjust the system):
Thru Dec 27: .429 in 35 games, 70-point pace (28th in NHL)
Since Dec 28: .794 in 17 games, 130-point pace (1st in the NHL)
I think even among "Yzerplan skeptics" people generally agreed that the team was badly underachieving under Lalonde. The typical preseason prediction was that they'd be fighting for a wildcard spot again, in about the same place or maybe a small step back from last year. But before the coaching change they weren't even in the ballpark.
However, only the most delusional fan thinks that the Red Wings under McLellan would actually be anywhere close to a 130-point juggernaut over an 82-game schedule with this roster. The truth is obviously somewhere in the middle. The question is where. My guess is that a healthy Detroit with McLellan all year would be around A3/WC1/WC2 territory, mostly thanks to Raymond's continued improvement, Seider's strong rebound, a big step forward from Edvinsson, an overall system that better suits the available talent, and an elite powerplay. Noticeably better than last year. Good bet for the playoffs. Still not up there with the East elite.
Another comment about Yzerman as GM -- fans tend to take extreme positions. A guy is either a terrible GM or a great GM. Yzerman is either a total disaster or he's some genius 4D chess grandmaster and fans should just shut up and be patient while he executes his perfect plan. I think the truth is in the middle here too.
On the one hand he's swung some great trades. And he's gotten great value out of his first round draft picks considering where they were taken. Raymond is on a borderline superstar track, and on a team-friendly long-term deal while the cap is projected to go to the moon. Seider is playing much much better than he has the last couple of season under Lalonde. Both of those absolutely needed to happen for Detroit to have any chance at becoming a contender again anytime soon, and they have. If ASP continues on his current trajectory, at least one of Danielson/MBN exceed expectations, at least one of Cossa or Augustine develop into a consistent top-10 NHL starter, this team could be extremely good in a few years.
But even if all that happens, it doesn't retroactively excuse dumping Jake Walman and a pick for nothing (reportedly to make space for Trouba, who sucks), or signing a bunch of mid vets for way too much money and then playing them way too many minutes. The pro scouting has been a huge problem. Hopefully it's one they can correct, especially as the cap goes up and contracts for guys like Petry (this year), Chiarot (next year), Holl (next year), Tarasenko (next year), and Copp (two years) start to expire. Because, yeah, those guys cycling off the team right as the new young core takes over
could be perfect timing. But their roster spots will need to be filled by
somebody. Will their replacements be solid NHL complementary players on team-friendly (or at least fair) deals? Or will Yzerman overspend on yet another generation of overrated and underperforming vets? (And if we don't hit big on at least two of ASP/MBN/Danielson/goalie it might not matter anyway.)
Honestly, the Yzerman sucks/Yzerman is brilliant argument is tiresome. I think like most NHL GMs he's decent enough at his job -- not awful, not exceptional, makes plenty of both good and bad decisions, whose successes and failures are a lot more luck-dependent than most fans like to admit. To his credit he has put the team in a position where, if a few more things go their way, they could be back in contention territory in a couple of years. I am a lot more hopeful than I was at the start of the year. Fingers crossed that we get there.
