Earlier this evening, the word broke that General Manager Tom Fitzgerald has found his new head coach. With Lindy Ruff fired and now with Buffalo and Travis Green signed with Ottawa, the New Jersey Devils needed a new head coach. Ideally, they wanted to hire one ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft and free agency. Fitzgerald and his staff did it. Sheldon Keefe is going to be the new head coach of the New Jersey Devils.
I first saw this from James Nichols on X and it has since been confirmed by Sportsnet – which acknowledged the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast for breaking the news, so they got one – and by TSN. Per TSN’s article, the Devils have signed Keefe to a four-season contract that includes the two seasons remaining from his previous contract with Toronto. Toronto did fire Keefe but he was owed that money. TSN’s article also had a comment from Pierre LeBrun pointing to the Devils giving Keefe a raisemontreal canadiens vs new jersey devils. Not only did the Devils hire Keefe tonight but the narrative that the Devils ownership and/or management are too cheap to hire a coach also died this evening. A narrative presumably spread by people unaware that the Devils have been a salary cap ceiling team for two seasons and counting.
Fitzgerald and his staff can legitimately claim that they held an in depth coaching search. Per Nichols, the team interviewed Craig Berube (now with Toronto), Jay Woodcroft, Todd McLellan, and Ryan Warsofsky. There was some hope – I shared in this hope – from some of the People Who Matter that Mike Sullivan could become available. The thinking was that Kyle Dubas’ power play in Pittsburgh over Mike Sullivan’s coaching staff on top of Pittsburgh narrowly missing the playoffs for a second straight season would lead to Sullivan being fired. Dubas could then re-hire Keefe as he did in Toronto and Sullivan could come to New Jersey with a big chip on his shoulder. That did not happen. And so Fitzgerald correctly focused on coaching candidates who were available and hired Keefe.
This is a really good decision and hire by Fitzgerald in my opinion. The big criticism of Sheldon Keefe will be surrounding Toronto’s lack of playoff success. I would argue that Keefe is still the only coach of the Maple Leafs that bossed his team past the first round since 2004 back in 2023. Which they did, only to get Bobrovsky’d out of the postseason in 2023. The 2023-24 Maple Leafs were an OT away while missing their top player (Auston Matthews) and goaltender (Joseph Woll) of a huge comeback series win over Boston that could have spelled Jim Montgomery’s end if Toronto won that game. He’s 1-for-5 in that regard. Which was far better than Mike Babcock’s tenure, Randy Carlyle’s tenure, Ron Wilson’s tenure, and Paul Maurice’s tenure. I think a coach that cannot get it done in the playoffs does not get close to getting it done or having actually done it. Memes about Toronto’s playoffs aside, management is arguably more at fault for their many short playoff visits – especially this year’s – than anything Keefe did. There is a lot to like from Keefe regardless.
For those who want a winning pedigree, then Keefe has the wins. The Maple Leafs went a combined 212-97-40 in the regular season under Keefe for an absolutely staggering 66.5% point percentage. Keefe’s Leaf teams never finished worse than third in their very competitive division. This is great news for a New Jersey Devils team that did not make the playoffs last season and only have done so once since Fitzgerald was named GM. If you put any value in AHL results, then you should really be jazzed about Keefe’s time with the Marlies. In his first job in pro hockey as a head coach, Keefe took the Marlies to the playoffs in all four of the full seasons he spent there, won 200 games out of a combined 320, and led the Marlies to the Calder cup in 2018. Keefe is joining his second organization in pro hockey. He is bringing a lot of experience through victories with him.
For those who want to see the Devils to continue being on the right side of the rink in 5-on-5 play, then you will be pleased to know that Keefe’s Maple Leaf teams were generally good in this regard. They were not amazing in 2023-24 but they were on the right side of the 5-on-5 rates and scored many goals to overcome some questionable goaltending. Ditto in 2022-23. They were great in 2021-22 and quite good in the 2021 season. I doubt that Keefe will put the Devils on par with Carolina in this sense, but Keefe’s tactics should continue to see the Devils out-attempt, out-shoot, and out-chance their opponents. Ideally to also out-score them as well.
For those who want to see a head coach give the business to certain players, then Keefe has been more than capable of that. In the high-pressure environment of Toronto, Keefe was unafraid to call out William Nylander or Mitch Marner or other Leafs for their performance. This is on top of overseeing the rise of those two as well as superstar goal machine Auston Matthews and balancing a roster that was not always all that balanced. Keefe handled the very contentious media in Toronto. He can handle Ryan Novozinsky, Nichols, and others just fine while knowing how to manage the stars and their supporting cast through the grind of the season. For all of the lamenting about Marner and Nylander, they did finish 10th and 25th in the NHL in scoring in this past season. (And both outscored half of the goalless roster in the Boston series. I put more fault on Brad Treliving and, I guess, Kyle Dubas.) Keefe clearly had a hand in their successes. I do not think this is really an issue but Keefe is not going to be a doormat, perceived or otherwise.
For those who want to see the Devils still be an offensive team because that is how they are built, then you will be pleased to know how Keefe coached the Leafs. Per Jack Han’s Hockey Tactics 2024, the Leafs still looked to rush teams down but establishing possession down low first. Which was a common sight for the Devils when they had to establish the offensive zone. Keefe’s Leafs did apply more pressure on a forecheck with a 2-1-2 concept used in addition to a traditional 1-2-2. Given how often the Devils got in deep when establishing the zone in non-rush situations, they can fit that. Keefe did opt to have defensemen pinch on offense although not as much as in past seasons. The Devils have the defensemen to do so, one of Ruff’s faults is that all of them had to do it to a point where we had to witness (and endure) someone like Kevin Bahl doing so. If Keefe can make the pinching more judicious, then that will help. Jack Han commented earlier today in his Substack that one element Keefe could bring to the Devils is a tactical focus on extending offensive possessions. This will help the perception and reality that the Devils’ offense was so rush-based that they only had one dimension. It could make them that more dangerous of a team to play against, which is a great thing if it bears out. Han used to work with Keefe with the Marlies as an assistant coach so I trust his assessments. It inspires confidence for a team that needs some new tactical ideas.
For those who want to see the Devils have a coach with a purpose, then Keefe is a fantastic choice. He has been brought in through Toronto’s system to be the head coach. He proved himself at the AHL level. He proved himself at the NHL regular season level. The playoffs are the one blemish. Yet, if it was not for those, then this post would not be written right now. There will be many, especially out of Toronto, who may choose to write off Keefe as not being good enough. He has plenty of incentive to prove his worth at this level. He has plenty of reason to carry a big chip on his shoulder as if it was his fault Matthews and Woll were unavailable for Game 7. What’s more is that he has a roster that he could turn into contenders in short order provided Fitzgerald takes care of at least two things (you’ll see what those are shortly)cheap hockey jerseys canada adidas. He has Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Jesper Bratt as his core forwards. He has the growing Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec on defense joining a healthy Dougie Hamilton in the Fall. While there are supporting cast holes and one big hole in the net to fill, the Devils have plenty for a new head coach to work with. With ownership clearly willing to spend and management willing to bring in someone who is not a necessarily a friend of Tom Fitzgerald, the message is clear: Keefe is someone who can take this team to where they should be. And provided the roster is addressed by Fitzgerald, Keefe will be able to silence his critics in the best way possible: with the Devils winning games.
I am clearly a fan of this hire. I could have been talked into Jay Woodcroft being the guy as I think he is talented and was more or less undercut by a bad slump caused by heinous goaltending in Edmonton. I still prefer Keefe being hired over McLellan and the field. That said, there are two bigger questions that have to be answered sooner rather than later. Two things where Fitzgerald also has to take care of correctly.
#1. Who will be on the coaching staff?
With Keefe hired, I would think he would want to bring his own assistants and support staff. I have made it clear on this site that goaltending coach Dave Rogalski has not been helpful with any of the team’s goalies. I am hoping that, at a minimum, Keefe replaces Rogalski with someone else. With Travis Green now in Ottawa, I would guess Keefe and Fitzgerald fill in that assistant coach position for the power play with someone new. I could be talked into Ryan McGill, Dave Taylor, and Sergei Brylin being kept on. But if Keefe has other people in mind, then I am fine with the Devils starting with a fresh new bench. For the amount of money and term the Devils have given Keefe, I think a clean slate is appropriate. These positions may be decided a bit later on in the offseason. As long as it is done well ahead of training camp.
#2. What will Tom Fitzgerald do about goaltending?
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This is not so much a Keefe issue as it is a Fitzgerald issue. Hiring a head coach was one of Fitzgerald’s most important tasks in this offseason. He did it and I think he made a great choice. But that will be hindered if Keefe is sandbagged by the equivalent of having 2023-24 Ilya Samsonov-level goaltending – a Devils-esque 89% save percentage performance by the way. As much as Fitzgerald needed to nail the head coaching hire, he needs to nail the addressing the goaltending position. With Tampa Bay and Nashville making a rare trade during the playoffs, there is no reason for Fitzgerald to not work the phones in a league where a heap of teams, like Toronto, would want to get better goaltending. Should Fitzgerald strike gold and get a goalie who performs well, then there are going to be plenty of new members of the People Who Matter in 2024-25. I think Keefe can do a great job but he needs the guys. Fitzgerald knows this – even if he made one stupid signing a few days ago.
There may be more to come out about Keefe and what’s next for Fitzgerald when Keefe is officially announced tomorrow. Again, I am a fan of this hire and I wish Keefe the best in New Jersey. I really think he can be the head coach to get the Devils to where we all want them to be. Making the playoffs, of course, is the first step again. It has to be after the failure that was last season. Now I want to know what you think. Do you like the Devils hiring Sheldon Keefe? What do you expect him to do in New Jersey? Do you think he will change the coaching staff? Who do you think will thrive under Keefe? What’s next for Fitzgerald? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about Keefe becoming the next head coach of the Devils in the comments. Thank you for reading.
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