Red Wings call news conference to introduce Blashill

For the first time in a decade, the Detroit Red Wings are holding a press conference to announce a new head coach.

Jefff Blashill is to be introduced at Joe Louis Arena at 11 a.m. Tuesday, three weeks after the job opened up when Mike Babcock decided to depart for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Wings didn't want to make the announcement while Blashill was still busy coaching Detroit's AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Griffins were eliminated from the playoffs last week.

Blashill's contract is expected to be for three years, matching that left on the contract of general manager Ken Holland. At 41, Blashill will be the second-youngest NHL head coach, behind 40-year-old John Hynes in New Jersey.

One of Blashill's first duties will be to hire assistants. Assistant coach Tony Granato has told the Wings he will not be exercising the option he had on his contract for the coming season. Holland told the Free Press that Granato is talking to multiple NHL clubs.

16 reasons why Blashill's the right choice

"Anytime you hire a coach, they need to decide who they want to work with, in conjunction with the GM signing off, " Holland said.

The Wings will receive a third-round draft pick from Toronto as compensation for hiring Babcock before the June 30 expiration of his contract. The Maple Leafs have told the Wings it won't be in this year's draft, so the compensation will either come in 2016 or 2017 (expect the Leafs to wait till 2017, because if they've improved by then, the pick will be lower than when a team performs poorly).

Blashill, 41, has spent the past three years coaching the Griffins. Before that, he was an assistant under Babcock for one season, in 2011-12. He guided the Griffins to the Calder Cup championship in his rookie year in Grand Rapids, in 2013. Part of his appeal is his familiarity with many of the young Wings, who he coached while they were in Grand Rapids.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.