Jeff Blashill, Red Wings Agree to 2-Year Contract Extension to Remain as HC

The Detroit Red Wings announced Tuesday that Jeff Blashill has agreed to a two-year contract extension to remain the team's head coach. 

Blashill has spent the past four seasons as Detroit's head coach, going 135-143-47 for a winning percentage of .488 with one playoff appearance.

This season, the Red Wings are sixth in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division with a 31-38-10 mark over 79 games for 72 points, meaning they will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said the following regarding the decision to extend Blashill:

"Jeff has done a tremendous job developing our young talent as we continue to rebuild our organization. Our young players have made significant strides during his time as head coach and are playing important minutes in key situations. As we continue to build towards the future, we have the utmost confidence that Jeff is the coach best suited to help our prospects become impactful NHL players. He has gained valuable experience as an NHL coach in each of his four years in Detroit and has instilled a work ethic in our current team that makes us hard to play against every night and competitive in every game, which is the identity we want our team to have as we move forward."

The 45-year-old Blashill is a Detroit native who took over as head coach of the Red Wings in 2015 when Mike Babcock left to become head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Before becoming head coach of the Red Wings, Blashill served as an assistant under Babcock and then head coach of the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. He made the playoffs in all three seasons as the Griffins' head coach and won the Calder Cup on one occasion.

In his first year at the helm for the Red Wings, Blashill led Detroit to the playoffs, which extended its postseason streak to 25 consecutive years. That tied the Red Wings for the third-longest streak in NHL history, but it ended there.

Since losing in the first round of the playoffs in 2016, Blashill and the Red Wings have resided near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

With one point over the final three games of the season, Detroit can match its point total from last season, or it can exceed it with two points or more.

Also, there is some reason for optimism entering 2019-20. Three of the Red Wings' top four scorers (Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi) have enjoyed career years in terms of goals and points, which gives Detroit a good launching pad.

Detroit is also in the midst of a five-game winning streak, and young players like Filip Zadina, Filip Hronek and Taro Hirose could be full-time players next season.

The Red Wings likely still have a long way to go with regard to their rebuild, but Blashill will be given every opportunity to turn things around after previously showing his acumen for developing young players in the AHL.