‘Sportsnet is paying him well, so he has to make something up’: Jon Cooper on former Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde’s commentary

Well, this is awkward.

A year ago, Derek Lalonde was wrapping up his fourth season as a Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach, a highly successful tenure that brought two Stanley Cup rings plus an additional trip to the Final. He was one of the most sought-after coaching candidates on the job market last summer and ended up joining the Detroit Red Wings for his first NHL head coaching gig.

With his Wings missing the 2022-23 Stanley Cup playoffs, however, Sportsnet brought Lalonde on as an analyst for their panel. His commentary thus far has been extremely well-received. But when it comes to analyzing the Lightning, a team he’s less than a year removed from departing, is he going too far sharing possible insider knowledge?

After the Toronto Maple Leafs’ shocking Game 4 comeback, in which they scored three third-period goals to even the score at 4-4 before winning in overtime, Lalonde offered insight into how the Leafs were solving goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in the series so far. Lalonde mentioned that “we had done a study back in the day” that revealed he was “one of the lower percentage goalies in finding pucks from the point. So we actually changed our entire D-zone and improved our pass rush.”

After the Lightning’s practice Wednesday, coach Jon Cooper was asked for his thoughts on the commentary from his former apprentice Lalonde.

“I heard about it,” Cooper told reporters. “Listen, Sportsnet is paying him well to go give an opinion, so he has to make something up about that kind of stuff.

“We are playing, so we can’t watch what is going on. He is there because he was an assistant coach on this team. He is trying to offer insight and give the fans something. He should be doing that. It’s just making sure it’s accurate in what he is saying.”

The Leafs and Lighting resume their first-round series Thursday night at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. The Leafs lead the series 3-1 and can eliminate the Lightning with a victory but are 0-10 in their past 10 games in which they can knock an opponent out of the playoffs.