Hope Larkin is healthy for tonight.  He’s had a very good year with exemplary effort.

Lalonde also said Larkin is a game time decision.

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

"I’m excited about some of the steps we took," Lalonde said. "I don’t know if we’ll be in a much different situation starting next year — I do think we have a lot of work to do, being on the outside looking in. This is more of a credit to our division and conference, but you've got to go through a first step, and I think myself and this group, we did one this year."

One of the first things Lalonde, 50, had to adjust to was being the guy who deals directly with the general manager. That is different from being an assistant, who serves more as a layer between players and the head coach. Lalonde was hired by Steve Yzerman July 1 of last year. Lalonde knew Yzerman from their days together with the Lightning, where Yzerman was GM until stepping into an advisory role in the fall of 2018, which was Lalonde's first year. But the Bolts were a championship-caliber team, and Lalonde has dealt much more closely with Yzerman as the two try to push the Wings towards making the playoffs again.

"He’s passionate," Lalonde said. "No one wants this to go more in the right direction than he does. With that said, the patient build is the way to go."...

"We were in a really good spot," Lalonde said. "And then through trades and injuries, we flipped seven, eight guys. So I do give our guys some credit because they still competed down the stretch. So it’s just really hard to judge myself and this group with some of the circumstances."

Lalonde replaced Jeff Blashill, whose seven years on the job spanned the entirety of Dylan Larkin's NHL career. There were growing pains early as Lalonde instilled systems that focused on the Wings improving their overall team defense, but through it all, Lalonde maintained an even-keeled approach.

"We were organized," Larkin said. "Especially late in the season, after the All-Star break, we really took steps in the system. He’d tell you it’s a process to learn it, it’s very different from what we’ve played in the past. Once we kind of got comfortable with it, we won a lot of games because of it.

"I was really impressed with our organization and how we played as a team."

more ($)

Larkin and Perron today.