The New Jersey Devils have found their next head coach in former Toronto Maple Leafs bench boss Sheldon Keefe. The Leafs let go of Keefe after five seasons and another early exit in the playoffs, this time in seven games to the Boston Bruins. The Devils fired head coach Lindy Ruff during the season after underperformance for a team with high expectations. Now that the Devils have hired Keefe, what’s next on the agenda for GM Tom Fitzgerald this offseason?
If you’re looking for some background on Keefe and some quotes from Fitz and David Blitzer, here’s where you can go. Otherwise instead of focusing on what Keefe has done in the past, we can look ahead to the future. What stands out the most about this hire is it’s a young, successful head coach who was likely in an impossible situation in Toronto. We know the pressure there and how the media can be. New Jersey, while close enough to New York, is nothing close to that realm of pressure. With that said, Keefe will still need to win almost immediately given the roster and ceiling for this team.
Next priority this offseason for Devils
There’s not much the Devils can do until we get to the 2024 NHL Draft on June 28. We could see New Jersey move the No. 10 pick or select a center or defenseman. Either way, that’s the next big date to look to. We don’t really get into free agency and restricted free agency until July when the calendar flips. So for now, Fitzgerald should likely be calling other teams and seeing who might be available to pluck by using the No. 10 pick or one of the extra defenseman prospects in Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey. The Devils could also look to move Dawson Mercer and/or Alexander Holtz this offseason.
Before all that goes down, Keefe will also need to pick a few assistant coaches for the bench. It’ll be interesting to see if a former Devils player ends up on Keefe’s staff. On Toronto, Keefe’s assistants were Guy Boucher, Mike Van Ryn, Dean Chynoweth, Manny Malhotra and goaltending coach Curtis Sanford. There are a few recognizable names in that list. Malhotra played 16 seasons in the NHL and retired after 2014-15. Boucher had short stints as the Lightning and Senators head coach in the 2010s. Van Ryn was on Craig Berube’s staff in 2019 that won the Stanley Cup. Chynoweth was an assistant with Carolina before joining the Leafs in 2021.
We all know how Devils fans feel about the goalie coaching for a while now. It feels like since Martin Brodeur retired, the Devils haven’t had stability in net aside from Cory Schneider, who showed up at the wrong time. So it’s important the Devils bring in a competent goaltending coach before adding a starter this offseason. That may be Sanford or it could be another hire. Same goes for the rest of those assistants.
Expect Keefe to hire Boucher or get someone similar, someone with head coaching experience at the NHL level. Ryn may end up staying in Toronto under Berube. Malhotra feels like someone you’d want to keep around for the young kids on the roster. A big issue with the Devils was lack of compete and that was pretty much what Malhotra was about in his career. Chynoweth was mostly a goon/tough guy during his playing days. So again, something the Devils could use behind the bench.
Keefe should try and retain Boucher. He has plenty of coaching experience and would be a solid associate head coach. Malhotra and Chynoweth also make sense on the staff if that’s the route Keefe goes. Perhaps the Devils and Keefe bring in a new assistant and also goaltending coach. Keefe is young so you’re not looking for some sort of apprentice assistant, you want coaches with experience and experience winning at the highest level. So next on the agenda should be finding Keefe’s coaching staff.
