New Jersey Devils Easy Choice For 31st Head Coach

There were a bunch of qualified candidates for the New Jersey Devils to choose from in the 2024 head coaching carousel. Two months ago, the Devils found themselves in an unexpected position looking up from the bottom of the standings. In an attempt to rectify the escalating situation, head coach Lindy Ruff was fired on March 4, 2024, by New Jersey.

About two months later, a familiar face from the Eastern Conference will lead the Devils into the 2024-25 campaign. This head coaching hire might have been one of the easiest choices that Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has ever made. 

Keefe and New Jersey Devils Both Fell Short of 2024 Expectations

On 05/23/24, per Spittin’ Chicklets Podcast, the New Jersey Devils are expected to confirm what became the NHL’s worst kept secret online on Tuesday night.  Sheldon Keefe is expected to be named the 31st head coach in Devils history.  Keefe is expected to sign a four-year deal, per NHL league sources who spoke with the New York Times.

Keefe was relieved of his coaching duties on May 9 by the Toronto Maple Leafs following their first-round playoff exit to the Boston Bruins a few days earlier.  

Here is a fun trivia piece for you. Sheldon Keefe was also the 31st Head Coach in Toronto Maple Leafs history when he was hired in November 2019!  Go impress your friends with that useless nugget of knowledge. 

Five Years In Toronto Media Meet-Grinder

In five seasons in the spotlight of the harshest media markets available in the NHL, Sheldon Keefe performed exceptionally well behind the bench. Keefe never missed the NHL Playoffs while leading the team to less than 100 regular season losses over that timespan (212-97-40).

While the 16-21 postseason record over those five seasons is less than ideal, the are many factors at play in that record in addition to Keefe’s coaching staff. However, the inability of his coaching staff to get the Maple Leafs past the second round of the postseason this season ultimately led to his departure from Toronto.

Your take on the situation may be different, however, getting Toronto out of the first round last season was an impressive feat all by itself! While the roster construction for Toronto would lead fans and media members to expect better results, that is not always how things play out in the NHL Playoffs as we see every May and June. 

What Awaiting Sheldon Keefe In Garden State

With Tom Fitzgerald electing not to name interim manager Travis Green to the command position for the Devils, the search for a new coach became a May priority. I imagine Fitzgerald leaping for joy & hoping no one caught him doing it on May 9 when the Maple Leafs fired Keefe, immediately injecting a shiny, new, high-quality candidate with solid credentials into the market. Toronto took the same path, signing Craig Berube earlier this week.

The New Jersey Devils present a lot of similarities to Toronto from five seasons ago when Keefe was tested with guiding to success.  The current Devils roster features a younger superstars duo, Nico Hischier (25) & Jack Hughes (23), which is similar in nature to the combo of Austin Matthews (22) and Mitch Marner (22) the Maple Leafs showcased in 2019. 

During exit interviews, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald said the team got punched in the face in 2024:

“They got the message,” Fitzgerald said Thursday. “We got curious mindsets in that room. They want to get better and sometimes you got to punch people right in the nose to realize, ‘Oh, this is reality.’ What we got this season, is what we deserved.”

With the hiring of Sheldon Keefe to the bench boss position, Tom Fitzgerald fired the first counter punch of the 2024 offseason for the New Jersey Devils.